A Tempest in a Transatlantic Teapot: A Legal Historian's Critical Analysis of Frédéric Bastien's La Bataille De Londres

Osgoode Hall Law Journal 51:2, Forthcoming

Osgoode Legal Studies Research Paper No. 8/2014

22 Pages Posted: 28 Jan 2014 Last revised: 20 Feb 2014

See all articles by Philip Girard

Philip Girard

York University - Osgoode Hall Law School

Date Written: January 1, 2014

Abstract

This review discussed the allegations in Frederic Bastien's book La Bataille de Londres, to the effect that two Supreme Court of Canada judges had improper communications with British and Canadian authorities before and after the hearing of the Patriation Reference. It analyzes in detail the five incidents upon which the allegations are based, and finds that the author's interpretation cannot be supported in four of them because of faulty interpretation of the evidence or incomplete research. The fifth incident, in which Chief Justice Laskin met with the English attorney general, is found to have been arguably inappropriate judicial behaviour, but to have no effect in law on the ultimate decision in the Patriation Reference. In addition, more recent evidence tends to confirm that no "leaks" to the Canadian government occurred while the Court was writing its decision.

Keywords: Patriation Reference, Laskin, Estey, constitutional law, judicial impartiality, Chief Justice

JEL Classification: K1, K19, K39, K40

Suggested Citation

Girard, Philip, A Tempest in a Transatlantic Teapot: A Legal Historian's Critical Analysis of Frédéric Bastien's La Bataille De Londres (January 1, 2014). Osgoode Hall Law Journal 51:2, Forthcoming, Osgoode Legal Studies Research Paper No. 8/2014, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2386292

Philip Girard (Contact Author)

York University - Osgoode Hall Law School ( email )

4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
Canada

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