1 / 12

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms. CLU3M Unit 2. Fundamental Freedoms. Section 2 of the Charter Freedom of conscience and religion Freedom of thought, belief and opinion, and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication Freedom of peaceful assembly

marcus
Télécharger la présentation

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms CLU3M Unit 2

  2. Fundamental Freedoms • Section 2 of the Charter • Freedom of conscience and religion • Freedom of thought, belief and opinion, and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication • Freedom of peaceful assembly • Freedom of association

  3. Conscience and Religion • The right to entertain the beliefs you choose, to declare them openly without fear and to practice and disseminate them • According to the Charter- you may not be forced to act in a way contrary to your beliefs • R. v. Big M Drug Mart • In areas of conflicting religious rights the SCC has to interpret the intent as well as the extent of the Charter • Example- Family wishes their child not receive blood transfusions due to their religious belief system

  4. Thought and Expression • “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it”- Voltaire • Free to think and believe what you want and to publicly express your opinions • Key democratic freedoms- freedom of the press is a key means of communicating information to the public- many revolutions start when this is taken away • R. v. Keegstra- promotion of hatred- but if you have freedom of expression how can you be charged with expressing an opinion even if its fairly repulsive • The SCC decided that there are limits to freedom of expression • And here we have Section 1…but we wont look at it yet

  5. Peaceful Assembly and Association • Peaceful assembly- right to demonstrate against government policies or ideas • The assembly must be “peaceful- difference between lawful assembly and a riot • A riot (unlawful assembly) must consist of three or more persons prepared to use force to execute a common purpose • Association refers to the ability to connect with other people or groups (unions, cultural groups, political parties, sports teams) • Limitations- some people are prohibited from joining unions and in the criminal justice system people can be forced to stay away from certain people

  6. The Rights • Democratic Rights- Sections 3- 5 • Mobility Rights- section 6 • Legal Rights- sections 7- 14 • Equality Rights- section 15 • Official Languages of Canada- sections 16- 22 • Minority language Education rights- section 23 • Enforcement- Section 24 • General and Application 25- 34 • *section 33- Notwithstanding Clause

  7. Limitations to Rights and Freedoms • Section 1: Reasonable Limits Clause • The framers of the Charter believed that rights in Canada were not absolute. • Section 1 of the Charter: “reasonable limits” “free and democratic society” • 1982 R. v. Oakes- we will discuss his case later- quick summary, he was charged with trafficking a narcotic- • Narcotics Control act stated that at trial it is up to YOU, the one charged, to prove that you weren’t trafficking- this is a violation of your rights • The SCC came up with a test to determine when rights violations were reasonable- hence the test is called the Oakes Test

  8. The oakes Test • “It may become necessary to limit rights and freedoms in certain circumstances”- R. v. Oakes 1986 1 SCR • The court established a 4 step process to determine whether rights violations were reasonable • Next slide: The Oakes Test

  9. The oakes Test • 1. The reason for limiting the Charter right must be shown to be important enough to justify overriding a constitutionally protected right • 2. There must be a rational connection between the limitation of rights and the objective of the law • 3. The right must be limited as little as possible • 4. The more severe the rights limitation, the more important the objective must be

  10. Section 33 • As mentioned earlier, for Trudeau to get approval from the Premiers to pass the Charter, he had to agree to an override clause • The government had to ensure that they could override the SCC • Section 33 The Notwithstanding Clause- government can pass legislation that may violate or be inconsistent with rights and freedoms • The notwithstanding clause only lasts for 5 years before it has to be reviewed

  11. Section 33 • It ha sonly been used 4 times • Quebec used it to pass their French Language laws • Alberta has tried to use it twice and both times it failed • Why would any level of government be wary of invoking the notwithstanding clause?

  12. Rights Violations activity • See handout

More Related