The Supreme Court of Canada and the Charter

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The Supreme Court of Canada and the Charter

A democracy is a way of governing a country in which the people elect

representatives to form a government on behalf of the country; with

such a government, the idea is that everyone in that country has

social equality. Social equality is state of uniformity in quantity,

measure, value, privileges, status, or rights within a given society.

Canada is thought to be a democratic country because, similar to the

definition, the Canadian citizens select representatives by ballot to

form a government on behalf of the country. The Canadian judicial

system has two key elements by which to represent the country: The

Supreme Court of Canada (group of 9 appointed judges) and the Canadian

Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Supreme Court of Canada stands at

the apex of the Canadian judicial system. It is the final general

court of appeal, the last judicial resort for all litigants, whether

individuals or governments. Its jurisdiction embraces both the civil

law of the province of Quebec and the common law of the other

provinces and territories. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

is a set of laws revised by the Supreme Court in order to ensure

safety, morality and equality to all citizens. Some individuals state

that the Canadian judicial system is democratic as everyone has equal

rights and freedoms and that no one person has greater privileges over

another. On the other hand, what some have failed to see is that the

Supreme Court of Canada, along with the Canadian Charter, has been far

from democratic for the following reasons: the rights of a group

always supersedes the right of an individua...

... middle of paper ...

...0Gunter.htm.

Updated Wednesday 25 August 2004.

[5]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1093111929687_9?s_name=&no_ads=

Updated Aug. 21 2004

[6] http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/csc-scc/en/index.html. Updated

November 1, 2003.

[7] http://www.willamette.edu/wucl/pas/2004_reports/072004.html.

Updated July 2004.

[8] http://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org/history.html. Updated

15th July 2001.

[9] http://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org/history.html. Updated

15th July 2001.

[10] http://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org/history.html.

Updated 15th July 2001.

[11] Peter McCormick, Supreme at Last (Toronto: James Lorimer &

Company LTD. Publishers, 2000).

[12] http://www.feminist.org/research/chronicles/fc1982.html. Updated

2000, The Feminist Majority Foundation.

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