Interpreting the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: Applying International and European Jurisprudence on the Law and Practice of Fundamental Rights

Abstract

Since the arrival of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, there has been much discussion of applying the United States' experience with its Bill of Rights to the inter pretation of the Canadian Charter. It is the author's thesis, however, that Canadians ought to study the European and United Nations jurisprudence in the area of human rights documents as these documents more closely resemble the Canadian Charter than does the American Bill of Rights. Some illustrative fundamental rights cases from the United Nations and Europe are discussed. Further, the appendices include the full texts of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for comparative purposes.