Russell, Peter H.

The global expansion in judicial power has led to a growing interest in the way judges are chosen. Reform of the judicial selection process is on the political agenda in many countries but the nature of that process differs according to the type of process used - whether a career judiciary, an elected judiciary (direct and indirect), appointment by …

One of the most important but least examined aspects of the Canadian judicial system is the dual structure of civil and criminal trial courts. Canada's Trial Courts examines the co-existence, in every province, of superior courts (presided over by federally appointed judges) and 'lower' courts (staffed by provincially appointed judges). Combining b …

Constitutional Odyssey is an account of the politics of making and changing Canada's constitution from Confederation to the present day. Peter H. Russell frames his analysis around two contrasting constitutional philosophies – Edmund Burke's conception of the constitution as a set of laws and practices incrementally adapting to changing needs and …

Research on the Canadian Constitution is increasingly focusing more on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms over other dimensions of constitutional politics. Essential Readings in Canadian Constitutional Politics offers a corrective to the trend with a set of readings considered foundational to understanding the Canadian Constitution.

An original intr …

In November 2008, as the economic decline was being fully realized, Canada's newly elected minority government, led by Conservative Stephen Harper, presented a highly divisive fiscal update in advance of a proposed budget. Unable to support the motion, the Liberal and New Democratic Parties, with the backing of the Bloc Québécois, formed a coalit …

A judicial revolution occurred in 1992 when Australia's highest court discarded a doctrine that had stood for two hundred years, that the country was a terra nullius - a land of no one - when the white man arrived. The proceedings were known as the Mabo Case, named for Eddie Koiki Mabo, the Torres Strait Islander who fought the notion that the Aust …

First published in 1989, this volume reflects on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms of the 1982 Canadian Constitution, considering its implications for the future development of the nation.The book offers a concise analysis of what the Charter says and what the courts had, to the time of publication, taken it to mean. Beginning with a discussion of …