Controversies in the Common Law
Tracing the Contributions of Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin
- Publisher
- University of Toronto Press
- Initial publish date
- Oct 2022
- Category
- Legal History, Canadian, Constitutional
-
Hardback
- ISBN
- 9781487540722
- Publish Date
- Nov 2022
- List Price
- $70.00
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781487540746
- Publish Date
- Oct 2022
- List Price
- $70.00
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Description
Beverley McLachlin was the first woman to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Joining the Court while it was establishing its approach to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, McLachlin aided the court in weathering the public backlash against controversial decisions during her tenure.
Controversies in the Common Law explores Chief Justice McLachlin’s approach to legal reasoning, examines her remarkable contributions in controversial areas of the common law, and highlights the role of judicial philosophy in shaping the law. Chapters in this book span thirty years, and deal with a variety of topics – including tort, unjust enrichment, administrative and criminal law. The contributors show that McLachlin had a philosophical streak that drove her to ensure unity and consistency in the common law, and to prefer incremental change over revolution.
Celebrating the career of an influential jurist, Controversies in the Common Law demonstrates how the common law approach taken by Chief Justice McLachlin has been successful in managing criticism and ensuring the legitimacy of the Court.
About the authors
Vanessa Gruben is an associate professor and a member of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Common Law, where she teaches health law and family law. Her research focuses on the legal and ethical aspects of assisted reproduction, including the constitutionality of Canada’s Assisted Human Reproduction Act, the legal relationship between egg donors and their physicians, the constitutionality of anonymous sperm and egg donation, access to reproductive technologies, and the existing gaps in provincial law for families created through third-party reproduction. Gruben’s work is funded by the Social Science and Humanities and Research Council, Canadian Blood Services, and the Foundation for Legal Research. She is a co-editor of the fifth edition of Canadian Health Law and Policy (LexisNexis Canada, 2017).
Graham Mayeda is an associate professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa.
Owen Rees is deputy assistant deputy attorney general with the Department of Justice Canada and an adjunct lecturer in the Faculty of Law at Queen’s University.
