Law & Society / Constitutional Law

This collection highlights the urgency of reimagining federalism and the potential for federalism to support Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination, leading to a truly democratic Canada.

In the context of real-world dilemmas, Constitutional Culture, Independence, and Rights explores fundamental questions about the purpose and nature of constitutions, states, and nations.

Covering a range of criminal justice and social policy issues, this book explores how governments and Parliament justify their legislative choices under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Controversies in the Common Law identifies some of the thorniest problems in private and public law, and explains how Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin addressed them by applying a common law approach to judging.

Judicializing Everything? focuses on judicial decision-making in parliamentary states that have recently adopted bills of rights.

Canada’s Deep Crown looks at the role of the Sovereign from the perspective of political science, history, and law to assess its role and influence in respect to how Canadians govern themselves.

The Daily Plebiscite offers a multi-faceted analysis of Canada’s national unity crisis from the perspective of someone who lived through it all.

Bold and unconventional, this book advocates for an institutional turn-about in the relationship between democracy and constitutionalism.

Apex Courts and the Common Law considers the influence of the courts at the apex of national legal systems on the development of the common law: how the institutional position of apex courts causes them to shape the common law and, conversely, how the traditions of the common law shape the way apex courts conceive of their role.

Law's Indigenous Ethics seeks to strengthen the relationship between Indigenous rights and legal traditions by exploring a set of crucial topics through the lens of the seven Anishinaabe grandmother and grandfather teachings: love, truth, bravery, humility, wisdom, honesty, and respect.

In Canada’s Odyssey, renowned scholar Peter H. Russell provides an expansive, accessible account of Canadian history from the pre-Confederation period to the present day.

The Canadian Constitution in Transition reflects on the ideas that will shape the development of Canadian constitutional law in the decades to come.

Policy Change, Courts, and the Canadian Constitution examines the impact of courts and various constitutional provisions on a wide range of policy issues, including health care, immigration and refugee policy, citizenship, the rights of Indigenous peoples, and criminal justice policy.

This is the first major exploration of the Canada’s assisted reproduction policy at the national and provincial levels. It explains the reasons that led to the federal government’s failed national framework, and the legacy it left behind.

Courts in Federal Countries examines the role high courts play in thirteen countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Nigeria, Spain, and the United States.

In The Constitution in a Hall of Mirrors, David E. Smith presents a learned but accessible analysis of the interconnectedness of Canada’s parliamentary institutions.