Seven Absolute Rights : Recovering the Historical Foundations of Canada's Rule of Law

Redeeming the forgotten history of our rule of law and its categorical limits on executive power. Redeeming the forgotten history of our rule of law and its categorical limits on executive power. "About:For 150 years, Canada's constitutional order has been both flexible and durable, ensuring peace, order, and good government while protecting the absolute rights at the core of the rule of law. In this era of transnational terrorism and proliferating emergency powers, it is essential to revisit how and why our constitutional order developed particular limits on the government's powers, which remain in force despite war, rebellion, and insurrection. Seven Absolute Rights surveys the historical foundations of Canada's rule of law and the ways they reinforce the Constitution. Ryan Alford provides a gripping narrative of constitutional history, beginning with the medieval and early modern context of Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, and the constitutional settlement of the Glorious Revolution. His reconstruction ends with a detailed examination of two pre-Confederation crises: the rebellions of 1837-38 and the riots of 1849, which, as he demonstrates, provide the missing constitutionalist context to the framing of the British North America Act. Through this accessible exploration of key events and legal precedents, Alford offers a distinct perspective on the substantive principles of the rule of law embedded in Canada's Constitution. In bringing constitutional history to life, Seven Absolute Rights reveals the history and meaning of these long-forgotten protections and shows why they remain fundamental to our freedom in the twenty-first century."-- Provided by publisher "About:For 150 years, Canada's constitutional order has been both flexible and durable, ensuring peace, order, and good government while protecting the absolute rights at the core of the rule of law. In this era of transnational terrorism and proliferating emergency powers, it is essential to revisit how and why our constitutional order developed particular limits on the government's powers, which remain in force despite war, rebellion, and insurrection. Seven Absolute Rights surveys the historical foundations of Canada's rule of law and the ways they reinforce the Constitution. Ryan Alford provides a gripping narrative of constitutional history, beginning with the medieval and early modern context of Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, and the constitutional settlement of the Glorious Revolution. His reconstruction ends with a detailed examination of two pre-Confederation crises: the rebellions of 1837-38 and the riots of 1849, which, as he demonstrates, provide the missing constitutionalist context to the framing of the British North America Act. Through this accessible exploration of key events and legal precedents, Alford offers a distinct perspective on the substantive principles of the rule of law embedded in Canada's Constitution. In bringing constitutional history to life, Seven Absolute Rights reveals the history and meaning of these long-forgotten protections and shows why they remain fundamental to our freedom in the twenty-first century."-- Fourni parl'éditeur Cover SEVEN ABSOLUTE RIGHTS Title Copyright Dedication Contents Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Finding the Content and Meaning of the Canadian Rule of Law in Its History PART ONE UNCOVERING THE PITH: THE RULE OF LAW AT THE HEART OF THE LIVING TREE 1 The Courts, the Academy, and the Future of the Rule of Law in the Twenty-First Century 2 Contemporary British Approaches to Unwritten Constitutional Principles PART TWO HOW THE CANADIAN RULE OF LAW GREW: UP FROM ITS ROOTS 3 The Middle Ages and the First Constitutional Statutes: Royal Authority, Law, and Process 4 Stuart Theories of Extraordinary Prerogative and Legal Impunity Rejected 5 The “Seal of the Constitution”: The Glorious Revolution and the Modern Rule of Law PART THREE TRANSPLANTING THE RULE OF LAW: BENDING IN NEW WINDS OF CHANGE 6 The History of Constitutionalism in North America and the Canadian Settlement of 1849 7 Confederation and Beyond: Rule of Law from Universal Good to Chimera Epilogue: The Meaning of Constitutional History for Judges, Lawyers, and Students Notes Index