Lecture Notes: Enforcing Charter Rights

Introduction

• Discussion about making media and handling mistakes.
• The focus of the lecture is on enforcing Charter rights.
• Contextual review of constitutionalism and supremacy clause.
• Charter added entrenched rights but isn't the first instance of civil rights protection.
• Charter applies only against the state.
• Importance of interpretation in legal analysis.

How Charter Cases Arise

• Charter cases arise from violations of individual rights/freedoms by the state.
• Can occur during ordinary law enforcement or through enacted laws.
• Example of charter violation: unreasonable search/seizure.
• Legal challenges can arise even if the law is not enforced if it potentially violates rights.

Parties in a Charter Case

• Plaintiff/Appellant: Individual claiming rights violation.
• State/Defendant: Usually represented by Attorney General.
• Interveners: Third parties providing additional perspectives.
• Importance of standing: Plaintiff must demonstrate impact of the law.
• Case example with Chad Kruger and Nickelback as a hypothetical.

Remedies and Enforcement

• Section 24: Grants courts the power to provide remedies for rights violations.
• Remedies include striking down laws, suspending declarations, reading in or down legislation.
• Section 24(2) deals with excluding evidence obtained through rights violations.

Types of Legal Remedies

• Striking Down: Removing offending sections or entire laws.
• Suspending Declarations: Temporary continuation of a law to avoid legal vacuums.
• Reading In/Down: Modifying interpretation to ensure constitutional compliance.
• Other Remedies: Injunctions, declarations, damages.

Case Study: Shaytar

• Father denied parental benefits under the Unemployment Insurance Act.
• Claim of Section 15 equality rights infringement.
• Supreme Court found infringement and discussed guideline questions:
  • Extent of inconsistency.
  • Can inconsistency be resolved alone?
  • Should the declaration be temporarily invalid?
• Importance of reading and understanding cases as a study method.

Conclusion

• Challenges of litigation and the role of interpretation.
• Encouragement to read and analyze cases thoroughly to understand enforcement of the Charter.