Available in Russian
Author: Tatiana Vasilieva
DOI: 10.21128/1812-7126-2021-5-118-137
Keywords: Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; human dignity; right to equality; Supreme Court of Canada
This article explores the evolution of the Supreme Court of Canada’s approach to the application of the concept of human dignity in constitutional equality cases. Traditionally, in human rights cases, this concept serves only to strengthen the argument, to show that the violation affects the person’s intrinsic worth. It is only in Canada and in South Africa that there is experience in applying the concept as a criterion for identifying discrimination. In 1999, in Law v. Canada, the Supreme Court recognized the purpose of Article 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms of 1982 to be the protection of human dignity and stated that discrimination must be established based on assessment of the impact of a program or law on human dignity. However, in 2008, in R. v. Kapp, the Court noted that the application of the concept of human dignity creates difficulties and places an additional burden of prove on the plaintiff. It is no coincidence that victims of discrimination have preferred to seek protection before human rights tribunals and commissions, where the dignity-based test is not used. Subsequently, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected the use of the concept of human dignity as a criterion for identifying discrimination. The unsuccessful experience of applying the concept of human dignity as legal test has demonstrated that not every theoretically correct legal construction is effective in adjudication.
About the author: Tatiana Vasilieva – Doctor of Sciences in Law, Associate Professor, Chief Research Fellow, Human Rights Department, Institute of State and Law, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow.
Citation: Vasilieva T. (2021) Ispol’zovanie Verhovnym sudom Kanady kontseptsii dostoinstva cheloveka v konstitutsionnykh sporakh o ravnopravii [The concept of human dignity in the case-law of the Supreme Court of Canada on Charter Equality Rights]. Sravnitel’noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, vol. 30, no. 5, pp. 118–137. (In Russian).
References
Bateman T.M.J. (2012) Human Dignity’s False Start in the Supreme Court of Canada: Equality Rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The International Journal of Human Rights, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 577–597.
Bredt C.D., Dodek A.M. (2003) Breaking the Law’s Grip on Equality: A New Paradigm for Section 15. The Supreme Court Law Review: Osgoode’s Annual Constitutional Cases Conference, vol. 20, pp. 33–61.
Brown D.M. “Human Dignity”, Human Rights and the End of Life: The North Wind Blowing from Canada. Available at: https://www.stthom.edu/Public/getFile.asp?File_Content_ID=23 (accessed: 30.08.2021).
Foster A. (2008) The Role of Dignity in Canadian and South African Gender Equality Jurisprudence. Dalhousie Journal of Legal Studies, vol. 17, pp. 73–97.
Fredman S. (2013) Comparative Study of Anti-Discrimination and Equality Laws of the US, Canada, South Africa and India, Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.
L’Heureux-Dubé C. (2002) It Takes a Vision: The Constitutionalization of Equality in Canada. Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 363–375.
Hodes C. (2020) The Limits of Dignity at the Intersection of Autonomy, Identity and Affect: A Cautionary Tale from the Supreme Court of Canada. Feminist Legal Studies, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 61–86.
Hogg P.W. (2005) What Is Equality? The Winding Course of Judicial Interpretation. The Supreme Court Law Review: Osgoode’s Annual Constitutional Cases Conference, vol. 29, pp. 39–62.
Hurley M.C. Charter Equality Rights: Interpretation of Section 15 in Supreme Court of Canada Decisions. August 1995. Revised October 2003. Available at: https://publications.gc.ca/Collection-R/LoPBdP/BP/bp402-e.htm (accessed: 30.08.2021).
Ignatieff M. (2000) The Rights Revolution, Toronto: Anansi Press.
Koshan J. (2014) Under the Influence: Discrimination under Human Rights Legislation and Section 15 of the Charter. Canadian Journal of Human Rights, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 115–142.
Koshan J., Hamilton J.W. The End of Law: A New Framework for Analyzing Section 15(1) Charter Challenges. Available at: https://ablawg.ca/2009/02/20/the-end-of-law-a-new-framework-for-analyzing-section-151-charter-challenges/ (accessed: 30.08.2021).
Mahoney K.E. (2015) Judicial Bias: The Ongoing Challenge. Journal of Dispute Resolution, no. 1, pp. 43–69.
Mahoney K.E. (1992) The Constitutional Law of Equality in Canada. Maine Law Review, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 229–259.
Majury D. (2002) The Charter, Equality Rights, and Women: Equivocation and Celebration. Osgoode Hall Law Journal, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 297–336.
McCarthy M.A., Radbord J.L. (1999) Foundations for 15(1): Equality Rights in Canada. Michigan Journal of Gender & Law, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 261–376.
McLachlin B. (2006) Unwritten Constitutional Principles: What Is Going On? New Zealand Journal of Public and International Law, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 147–163.
McLachlin B. (2001) Equality: The Most Difficult Right. The Supreme Court Law Review: Osgoode’s Annual Constitutional Cases Conference, vol. 14, p.17–26.
Miller B.W. (2013) Dworkin’s Shadow: Equality Rights and the Supreme Court of Canada’s Loss of Dignity. Problema Anuario de Filosofía y Teoría de Derecho, no. 7, pp. 149–184.
Moreau S. (2009) R. v. Kapp: New Directions for Section 15. Ottawa Law Review, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 283–299.
Porter B. (2006) Expectations of Equality. Supreme Court Law Review. 2nd Series, vol. 33, pp. 23–44.
Réaume D.G. (2013) Dignity, Choice, and Circumstances. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2315177 (accessed: 30.08.2021).
Réaume D.G. (2013) Dignity, Equality, and Comparison. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2307169 (accessed: 30.08.2021).
Réaume D.G. (2002) Indignities: Making a Place for Dignity in Modern Legal Thought. Queen’s Law Journal, vol. 28, no. 61, pp. 61–79.
Réaume D.G. (2002) Of Pigeonholes and Principles: A Reconsideration of Discrimination Law. Osgoode Hall Law Journal, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 113–144.
Ryder B. (2013) The Strange Double Life of Canadian Equality Rights. The Supreme Court Law Review: Osgoode’s Annual Constitutional Cases Conference, vol. 63, pp. 261–294.
Ryder B., Hashamani T. (2010) Managing Charter Equality Rights: The Supreme Court of Canada’s Disposition of Leave to Appeal Applications in Section 15 Cases, 1989–2010. The Supreme Court Law Review: Osgoode’s Annual Constitutional Cases Conference, vol. 51, pp. 505–552.
Sampson F. LEAF and the Law Test for Discrimination: An Analysis of the Injury of Law and How to Repair It. Available at: https://www.leaf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/2004-11-Submission-LEAF-And-The-Law-Test-For-Discrimination-An-Analysis-Of-The-Injury-Of-Law-And-How-To-Repair-It.pdf (accessed: 30.08.2021).
Small J., Grant E. (2005) Dignity, Discrimination, and Context: New Directions in South African and Canadian Human Rights Law. Human Rights Review, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 25–63.
Symes K.E. (2011) Dignity and Equality: Law’s Reasonable Claimant and Human Dignity under Section 15. Available at: https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/31448/1/Symes_Karen_E_201111_LLM_thesis.pdf (accessed: 30.08.2021).
Wakeling T.W., Chipeur G.D. (1987) An Analysis of Section 15 of the Charter after the First Two Years or How Section 15 Has Survived the Terrible Twos. Alberta Law Journal, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 407–436.
Weinrib L.E. (2004) Human Dignity as a Rights-Protecting Principle. National Journal of Constitutional Law, vol. 17, pp. 325–345.
Wesson M. (2010) Contested Concepts: Equality and Dignity in the Case-Law of the Canadian Supreme Court and South African Constitutional Court. In: Sajó A., Uitz R. (eds.) Constitutional Topography: Values and Constitutions, The Hague: Eleven International Publishing, pp. 271–298.