Law 2101 Chapter Notes - Chapter Canadian Charter 2-34: Comparative Law, Originalism, Section 33 Of The Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms
15 Dec 2017
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Document Summary
Legal standards are necessarily vague, and in this sense are unlike rules. A rule requires or prohibits something in specific terms. Originalism is one approach to understand vaguely worded charter rights would be to give them meaning that those who drafter the charter intended them to have. Intention based interpretation is criticized on the basis that it is impossible to know the intentions of the drafters of a bill of rights, for it requires us to get inside their heads. It is often said that construction is required in addition to interpretation. Interpretation is concerned with determining the meaning of terms while construction is concerned with giving effect to terms. Originalism was rejected by the supreme court of canada in the early days of the charter. Under the "living tree" approach, the meaning of the charter rights are to grow and expand over time in a natural way.
