The Reasonable Justice: An Empirical Analysis of Justice Frank Iacobucci's Career on the Supreme Court of Canada

University of Toronto Law Journal, Vol. 57, p. 195, 2007

32 Pages Posted: 7 Sep 2007

See all articles by Benjamin Alarie

Benjamin Alarie

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law; Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence

Andrew James Green

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law

Abstract

There are two widely shared views of Frank Iacobucci as a justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. The first is that he was a liberally inclined justice, particularly in the area of criminal law. That he has conventionally been regarded as a liberal despite being appointed in 1991 by the Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney raises a number of questions. Is this conventional view of Justice Iacobucci actually correct? That is, is it borne out by his voting record over his more than thirteen years on the Court? If so, does this 'left of centre' claim hold fast beyond criminal law and extend to other areas of law? The second image of Justice Iacobucci is as a justice committed to building consensus on the Court by encouraging his fellow justices to reach agreement with him and with each other in deciding appeals. This second view also raises a series of questions. Was Justice Iacobucci the 'swing' justice on the Court in that the other justices needed to have him onside to form a winning coalition? Alternatively, was he part of a natural coalition on one side of most issues and able to persuade other, disinclined justices to join his view? Did his relative position on the Court shift depending upon the area of law at issue? Did Justice Iacobucci's leanings or preferences change over time? This article addresses these and other related questions using an empirical analysis of Justice Iacobucci's time at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Keywords: attitudinal model, law and courts, judging, decision-making

JEL Classification: K40

Suggested Citation

Alarie, Benjamin and Green, Andrew James, The Reasonable Justice: An Empirical Analysis of Justice Frank Iacobucci's Career on the Supreme Court of Canada. University of Toronto Law Journal, Vol. 57, p. 195, 2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1012925

Benjamin Alarie (Contact Author)

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law ( email )

Jackman Law Building
78 Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C5
Canada
416-946-8205 (Phone)
416-978-7899 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.benjaminalarie.com

Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence ( email )

Andrew James Green

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law ( email )

84 Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C5
Canada

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
159
Abstract Views
2,078
Rank
336,369
PlumX Metrics