scholarly journals The Métis and the Courts: Interrogating Métis-Focused Supreme Court Decisions in Canada

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-48
Author(s):  
Thomas Feth
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Court Decisions ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
New Era ◽  
Indigenous Activism ◽  
Equality Rights ◽  
Supreme Court Decisions ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
Aboriginal Groups

This paper is broadly concerned with the politics of the Canadian constitution, with its primary focus being the relationship between the Métis and the Supreme Court of Canada. The Métis are one of three Aboriginal groups in Canada that are officially recognized in the Constitution Act, 1982, along with the First Nations and the Inuit. The Act sparked a new era of Canadian jurisprudence and Indigenous activism through the courts. Despite the hopes of the Métis, major Supreme Court decisions vis-à-vis Métis issues since 1982 have been questionable if not problematic. This paper discusses Métis identity, jurisdiction, equality rights, and the question of Métis title in relation to four Supreme Court decisions. The paper aims to provide an overview of the most pertinent issues and cases in Métis constitutional law, while arguing that Métis-focused Supreme Court decisions have done little to improve the position and status of the Métis people in Canadian society, while some judgements have even undermined them.

Human rights and mortgage repossession: beyond property law using Article 8

Legal Studies ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Nield ◽  
Nicholas Hopkins
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Court Decisions ◽  
Property Law ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Central Argument ◽  
Supreme Court Decisions ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
Legal Frameworks

Following the Supreme Court decisions in Manchester CC v Pinnock and Hounslow CC v Powell, this article examines the possible impact of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms upon protection of the home in creditor repossession proceedings. The central argument advanced is that, although occupiers may not all be protected through property law, they may enjoy an independent right to respect for their home under Article 8, which should be acknowledged in the legal frameworks governing creditor's enforcement rights against the home. The article suggests that the most common creditor enforcement route, through mortgage repossession proceedings, falls short in this regard. It takes as its primary focus the treatment of children in such proceedings to provide an example of the potential for a human rights-based property protection heralded by these two Supreme Court decisions.

The concept of human dignity in the case-law of the Supreme Court of Canada on Charter Equality Rights

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 118-137
Author(s):  
Tatiana Vasilieva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Equality Rights ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Additional Burden ◽  
The Impact

This article explores the evolution of the Supreme Court of Canada’s approach to the application of the concept of human dignity in constitutional equality cases. Traditionally, in human rights cases, this concept serves only to strengthen the argument, to show that the violation affects the person’s intrinsic worth. It is only in Canada and in South Africa that there is experience in applying the concept as a criterion for identifying discrimination. In 1999, in Law v. Canada, the Supreme Court recognized the purpose of Article 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms of 1982 to be the protection of human dignity and stated that discrimination must be established based on assessment of the impact of a program or law on human dignity. However, in 2008, in R. v. Kapp, the Court noted that the application of the concept of human dignity creates difficulties and places an additional burden of prove on the plaintiff. It is no coincidence that victims of discrimination have preferred to seek protection before human rights tribunals and commissions, where the dignity-based test is not used. Subsequently, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected the use of the concept of human dignity as a criterion for identifying discrimination. The unsuccessful experience of applying the concept of human dignity as legal test has demonstrated that not every theoretically correct legal construction is effective in adjudication.

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