The Rhetoric of Rights: The Supreme Court and the Charter

Authors

Marc Gold, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The Supreme Court of Canada's initial interpretations of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms were as broad and liberal as could possibly have been expected. Invoking the metaphor of the constitution as a living tree and dismissing concerns about the legitimacy of its expanded role, the Court upheld the Charter arguments in the majority of the cases it decided during this first period. Even in those cases where the claim was denied, the Court made it clear that the Charter was to be taken very seriously. No one could mistake the Court's message: the Charter was to be liberally interpreted and enthusiastically applied.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Citation Information

Gold, Marc. "The Rhetoric of Rights: The Supreme Court and the Charter." Osgoode Hall Law Journal 25.2 (1987) : 375-410.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.60082/2817-5069.1843
https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/ohlj/vol25/iss2/4