The Ghost of Patriation: Conventions, Law, and the Canadian Constitution in the Quebec Secession Reference

REVUE DU BARREAU DU QUEBEC, Vol. 57, No 2, p. 291, 1997

51 Pages Posted: 26 Feb 2009

Date Written: September 1, 1997

Abstract

Published before the Supreme Court handed down its opinion in the Quebec Secession Reference, this paper discusses the normative resources available to judges confronted with the prospect of fundamental constitutional change in a way which foreshadows the unprecedented approach taken by the Court in this landmark opinion. A discussion of the legacy of the so-called patriation of the Canadian Constitution brings to light the fact that the conventions and the legal rules of the constitution are necessarily underlain by the same fundamental principles which guide the evolution of the unwritten law of the constitution.

Note: Downloadable document is in French.

Keywords: Secession, Secession Reference, Conventions, Constitutional Conventions, Conventions of the Constitution, Law of the Constitution, Constitution Act, Constitutional Law, Canadian Constitution, Supreme Court of Canada, Patriation, Patriation Reference, Crystallisation

Suggested Citation

Gelinas, Fabien, The Ghost of Patriation: Conventions, Law, and the Canadian Constitution in the Quebec Secession Reference (September 1, 1997). REVUE DU BARREAU DU QUEBEC, Vol. 57, No 2, p. 291, 1997, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1349572

Fabien Gelinas (Contact Author)

McGill University ( email )

3644 Peel Street
Montreal, Quebec H3A1W9
Canada

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