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Author Alford, Ryan Patrick, 1975- author.

Title Seven absolute rights : recovering the historical foundations of Canada's rule of law / Ryan Alford
Published Montreal ; Kingston ; London ; Chicago : McGill-Queen's University, [2020]

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Description 1 online resource
Contents Introduction: Finding the content and meaning of the Canadian rule of law in its history -- The courts, the academy, and the future of the rule of law in the twenty-first century -- Contemporary British approaches to unwritten constitutional principles -- The middle ages and the first constitutional statutes : royal authority, law, and process -- Stuart theories of extraordinary prerogative and legal impunity rejected -- The "seal of the constitution" : the glorious revolution and the modern rule of law -- The history of constitutionalism in North America and the Canadian Settlement of 1849 -- Confederation and beyond : rule of law from universal good to chimera -- Epilogue: The meaning of constitutional history for judges, lawyers, and students
Summary "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
Analysis POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / Canadian
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Online resource; title from title screen (EBSCOhost viewed on September 11, 2020)
Subject Rule of law -- Canada
POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / Canadian.
Rule of law
Canada
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780228002239
0228002230
9780228002222
0228002222