Dickson Court
The beginning of the Dickson Court corresponds to the first of the Charter cases heard by the Supreme Court.
The Dickson Court oversaw some of the most fundamental changes in Canadian jurisprudence. The court decided many foundational cases for Charter jurisprudence, including R. v. Oakes (section 1) and RWDSU v. Dolphin Delivery Ltd. (scope of the Charter). Among the most radical decisions of this period include Re B.C. Motor Vehicle Act which broke away from the conventional wisdom that due process only protected procedural rights by including substantive rights as well. This case was later followed up with the decision of R. v. Morgentaler, which proved significant both because it struck down the criminalization of abortion but also because of its expansion of due process rights into the civil context.
The Dickson Court era also saw the beginning of a major shift in Canadian administrative law, with the "pragmatic and functional approach" appearing in U.E.S., Local 298 v. Bibeault.
The last years of the Dickson Court saw an entire revision of the area of conflict of laws by Justice Gerard La Forest in the decisions of Morguard Investments Ltd. v. De Savoye 3 S.C.R. 1077. This would continue in the Lamer Court era with subsequent decisions such as Hunt v. T&N plc, 4 S.C.R. 289 and Tolofson v. Jensen.
Read more about this topic: History Of The Supreme Court Of Canada
Famous quotes containing the word court:
“At court I met it, in clothes brave enough
To be a courtier, and looks grave enough
To seem a statesman.”
—Ben Jonson (1572–1637)