First Year Law Guide

Public law has been conceived in many different ways, sometimes overlapping, often conflicting. However, in recent years a common theme running through the discussions of public law is one of loss. What function and future can public law have in this rapidly transforming landscape, where globalized states and supranational institutions have ever-increasing importance? This book takes stock of the idea, concepts, and values of public law as it has developed alongside the growth of the modern state, and assesses its continued usefulness as a distinct area of legal inquiry and normativity in light of various historical trends and contemporary pressures affecting the global configuration of law in general. Divided into three parts, the first provides a conceptual, philosophical, and historical understanding of the nature of public law, the nature of private law, and the relationship between the public, the private, and the concept of law. The second part focuses on the domains, values, and functions of public law in contemporary (state) legal practice, as seen, in part, through its relationship with private domains, values, and functions. The final part engages with the new legal scholarship on global transformation, analysing the changes in public law at the national level, including the new forms of interpenetration of public and private in the market state, as well as exploring the ubiquitous use of public law values and concepts beyond the state.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 7e, provides an accessible yet thorough account of the constitutional protection and practical application of rights under the Canadian Charter. This seventh edition includes, for the first time, an analysis of the protection of Aboriginal and Treaty rights. Among the important recent cases discussed and comprehensively explored are Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique (refusing to accept that controlling the cost of the right to minority-language education would justify limiting right under section 1); the Frank decision (striking down the disenfranchisement of Canadian citizens living abroad); and an important new remedies case, Ontario (Attorney General) v G (affecting suspended declarations of invalidity and applicable exemptions). Recent developments in the section 2(b) right to freedom of religion include the Ktunaxa Nation decision rejecting an Indigenous group’s claim that a development project would infringe their right to freedom of religion, and the Trinity Western decisions dealing with a religiously motivated covenant that discriminated against prospective LGBTQ2S+ law students. Also discussed are the developments in freedom of expression, including election spending and journalists being required to reveal their sources; the important role played by the Charter in the criminal process, including the Boudreault decision, extending the protection against cruel and unusual punishment; and equality rights, including decisions on pay equity and the Fraser case, dealing with pension benefits for women.

Public Law: Cases, Commentary, and Analysis, 4th Edition is the only text of its kind devoted exclusively to public law in Canada. Serving as a primer on the subject, this title will educate students about the importance of statutes and regulations both as forms of law and as political responses to pressing issues in Canadian society. This text demonstrates concepts, principles, and theory in a direct and accessible manner, contextualized with carefully selected case excerpts. Cases are presented with insightful author commentary, which offers a compelling, cohesive introduction to the subject of public law.

This major collection contains selected papers from the second Public Law Conference, an international conference hosted by the University of Cambridge in September 2016. The collection includes contributions by leading academics and judges from across the common law world, including senior judges from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK. The contributions engage with the theme of unity (and disunity) from a number of perspectives, offering a rich panoply of insights into public law which significantly carry forward public law thinking across common law jurisdictions, setting the agenda for future research and legal development. Part 1 of the volume contains chapters which offer doctrinal and theoretical perspectives. Some chapters seek to articulate a unifying framework for understanding public law, while others seek to demonstrate the plurality of public law through the method of legal taxonomy. A number of chapters analyse whether different fields such as human rights and administrative law are merging, with others considering specific unifying themes or concepts in public law. The chapters in Part 2 offer comparative perspectives, charting and analysing convergence and divergence across common law systems. Specific topics include standing, proportionality, human rights, remedies, use of foreign precedents, legal transplants, and disunity and unity among subnational jurisdictions. The collection will be of great interest to those working in public law.