JurisTalk | The New Parliamentary Sovereignty

JurisTalk | The New Parliamentary Sovereignty

Categories: Lectures and Seminars | Intended for

Monday, March 20, 2017

2:30 PM - 5:00 PM | Add to calendar

D492 Loeb Building

1125 Colonel By Dr, Ottawa, ON

Contact Information

Prof. Zoran Oklopcic, x. 1282, zoran.oklopcic@carleton.ca

Registration

No registration required.

Cost

Free

About this Event

Host Organization: Department of Law and Legal Studies, Jurisprudence Centre

Is parliamentary sovereignty still a useful concept in the post-Charter era? Once a central principle of Canadian constitutional law, parliamentary sovereignty has come to be viewed by many as being of little more than historical interest. It is perhaps not surprising, then, that the doctrine has received relatively little scholarly attention since the enactment of the Charter. But while it is undoubtedly true that the more absolute versions of parliamentary sovereignty did not survive the Charter’s entrenchment, we should not be too quick to dismiss the principle’s relevance entirely.

In this paper, Prof. Vanessa MacDonnell (Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa) suggests that some variant of parliamentary sovereignty continues to subsist in Canadian constitutional law. She also suggests that the study of parliamentary sovereignty reveals an important connection between the intensity of judicial review and the degree to which Parliament focused on the constitutional issues raised by a law during the legislative process. Parliament can expand its sphere of autonomous decision-making power relative to courts by showing that it is proactive about securing and promoting constitutional rights.

This event is in association with FPA Research Month