NCA Constitutional Law key terms

The original British statute that created Canada's federal union, distributing legislative powers between Parliament and the provinces and establishing the basic institutions of government.

The statute that patriated the Constitution, added the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and introduced the amending formulas and Aboriginal rights provisions.

Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982, guaranteeing fundamental rights and freedoms, legal rights, equality rights, and language rights, subject to limits and notwithstanding clauses.

The supremacy clause of the Constitution Act, 1982, rendering any law inconsistent with the Constitution of no force or effect.

The Charter provision guaranteeing the rights and freedoms set out in it, subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.

The notwithstanding clause allowing Parliament or a provincial legislature to declare that a statute operates notwithstanding specified Charter rights, subject to a five-year sunset.

The two-step framework for justifying limits under section 1: first, a pressing and substantial objective; second, proportionality including rational connection, minimal impairment, and balancing of effects.

The requirement that a limit on a right be rationally connected to its objective, impair the right as little as reasonably possible, and have effects that do not outweigh the benefits of the limit.

The proportionality step asking whether the government could have chosen a less intrusive means of achieving its objective while still achieving it to a reasonable degree.

The Charter provision protecting fundamental freedoms: conscience and religion; thought, belief, opinion and expression; peaceful assembly; and association.

The section 2(b) right to communicate thoughts, opinions, and beliefs through any medium, subject to limits such as hate speech, defamation, and reasonable time and place restrictions.

The section 2(a) right to hold and manifest religious beliefs without interference, subject to limits protecting public safety, order, and the rights of others.

The section 2(d) right to join with others in common pursuits, including forming unions and engaging in collective bargaining, but not guaranteeing a particular outcome.

The Charter provision protecting life, liberty, and security of the person, and providing that these may be deprived only in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.

The section 7 standard requiring that deprivations of life, liberty, or security of the person not be arbitrary, overbroad, or grossly disproportionate, and that they respect basic fairness.

The Charter equality provision guaranteeing equal benefit and protection of the law without discrimination based on enumerated or analogous grounds, and permitting affirmative action programs.

The section 15 guarantee that laws not discriminate on grounds such as race, sex, disability, or analogous personal characteristics, assessed by human dignity and substantive equality.

The Charter remedy clause empowering a court of competent jurisdiction to grant any remedy it considers appropriate and just in the circumstances for a breach of Charter rights.

The Charter exclusionary rule requiring courts to exclude evidence obtained in a manner that infringed a right if admitting it would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

The Constitution Act, 1982 provision recognizing and affirming existing Aboriginal and treaty rights of Indigenous peoples, including rights held by Métis and Inuit.

Rights held by Indigenous peoples arising from their prior occupation and use of land, including practices, customs, and traditions integral to their distinctive cultures, protected by section 35.

Rights arising from historic or modern treaties between Indigenous peoples and the Crown, recognized and affirmed by section 35 and interpreted generously and flexibly.

A sui generis communal right to exclusive use and occupation of ancestral lands, derived from prior occupation and protected under section 35, not a fee simple property right.

The Crown's obligation to consult Indigenous peoples and accommodate their concerns when contemplating actions that may adversely affect established or asserted Aboriginal or treaty rights.

The constitutional principle that the Crown must act honourably in all dealings with Indigenous peoples, underpinning treaty interpretation, consultation, and reconciliation.

The constitutional allocation of legislative authority between Parliament and provincial legislatures, primarily set out in sections 91 and 92 of the Constitution Act, 1867.

The doctrine used to identify the true subject matter of a law by examining its purpose and effects, in order to classify it under the division of powers.

The principle that a single activity or matter may have two aspects, one federal and one provincial, allowing both levels of government to legislate validly in their respective spheres.

The rule that where a valid federal law and a valid provincial law conflict, the federal law prevails and the provincial law is inoperative to the extent of the conflict.

A doctrine protecting the core of a federal or provincial legislative power from impairment by the other level of government, even where the impugned law is otherwise valid.

The legislative authority of Parliament over matters such as trade and commerce, criminal law, defence, and matters of a national concern, as defined in section 91.

The legislative authority of provincial legislatures over matters such as property and civil rights, local works, education, and health, as defined in section 92.

The interpretive principle that the Constitution is a living tree to be interpreted in a broad, progressive manner, adapting to changing social conditions rather than frozen in original meaning.

An interpretive method that reads constitutional provisions in light of their purpose and underlying values, rather than narrowly or literally.

The process by which courts determine the meaning of constitutional texts, using methods such as text, context, purpose, and precedent to resolve constitutional disputes.

An interpretive theory holding that the Constitution should be interpreted according to the original meaning or intent of those who drafted and adopted it.

The underlying principles and norms reflected in the Charter, such as equality, liberty, and dignity, which inform statutory interpretation and the development of the common law.

The relief courts may grant for constitutional violations, including declarations of invalidity, reading in, reading down, severance, damages, and exclusion of evidence.

The status of a law that is inconsistent with the Constitution and therefore of no force or effect under section 52, often subject to temporary suspension or other remedial adjustments.