Category: Richard Albert
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The Legal Status of the Queen in Canada
Canada is constitutional monarchy, a term which refers to a system of government headed by a monarch whose actions are both constrained and compelled by a constitution. The monarch in Canada is the Queen. The Constitution Act of 1867 says so expressly and the Constitution Act of 1982 affirms it implicity.
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2010 Annual Meeting of the Law & Society Association
The Comparative Constitutions Blog will be well represented this week at the Law and Society Association‘s Annual Meeting, held in Chicago’s Renaissance Hotel. Here is a quick reference guide for those attending what promises to be fascinating conference: Tom Ginsburg Chair/DiscussantSession: Constitutional Law and Judicial Review in AsiaFriday, May 28, 10:15am-12:00pm Author: How Do International…
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Bilingualism on the Supreme Court of Canada
Should Canadian Supreme Court justices be bilingual? That question is the latest battleground in the enduring debate on language rights and representation in Canada. The Supreme Court Act requires that at least three of the nine Canadian Supreme Court Justices come from Quebec, which has historically been the heart of Canada’s French-speaking community.
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Dueling Interpretations of American Law on the Canadian Supreme Court
Yesterday, the Canadian Supreme Court issued a 4-3 ruling in R. v. Morelli, a controversial case concerning whether a search warrant for a personal computer had been issued pursuant to defective information. The majority concluded that the authorities had obtained the search warrant on the basis of misleading, inaccurate, and incomplete information.
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Prime Minister Berlusconi vs. The Constitutional Court
Italian Prime Minister Sylvio Berlusconi has won the latest round in his continuing battle versus the Constitutional Court. Although his recent victory is far from decisive in the larger view, the Prime Minister has scored a significant point that will give him a much needed reprieve.
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When Should Supreme Court Judges Retire?
India is the latest state to debate the proper age at which Supreme Court justices should retire. At present, Indian Supreme Court Justices retire at age 65. The current proposal would raise the age of retirement by three years to 68.
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Prelude to the End of Mandatory Minimums in Canada?
On Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada may have signaled the imminent demise of mandatory minimum sentences. In Nasogaluak, a unanimous Court expressed deep reservations about the current sentencing regime in Canada. Earlier, the Court of Appeal had declared that sentencing judges were bound by the statutorily prescribed mandatory minimum sentences, and therefore could not…
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Is the Filibuster a Constitutional Convention?
Jake Tapper, ABC’s Senior White House Correspondent, reported yesterday that momentum is building behind the effort to change the current United States Senate rules which authorize the use of the filibuster. The filibuster is a procedural device whose consequence is to require supermajority support in order to vote on a legislative proposal.
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Summer Programs in Comparative Constitutional Law
As the summer season approaches, so too are deadlines for enrolling in summer law school programs. For students interested in comparative constitutional law, here is a useful list of summer law school programs in comparative and international law. Let me highlight just a few options for students: Howard University School of Law’s Comparative and International Law…
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Renewing the Upper Chamber in Canada
The Canadian Prime Minister has recently appointed a slate of five new Senators to the Upper Chamber. Two things are significant about this latest round of Senatorial appointments. First, the governing Conservative Party now holds a plurality of seats in the Senate after spending years in the wilderness of minority status.