Charter of Rights and Freedoms (19h 52min, jan 1, 1982 y – 16h 7min, dec 31, 1982 y)
Description:
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is one part of the Canadian Constitution. The Constitution is a set of laws containing the basic rules about how our country works, for example, it contains the powers of the federal government and those of the provincial governments in Canada. Before the Charter came into effect, other Canadian laws protected many of the rights and freedoms that are now brought together in it. The Constitution is the supreme law of Canada, generally speaking, all other laws must be consistent with the rules set out in the Constitution. If they are not, they may not be valid. Since the Charter is part of the Constitution, laws that limit Charter rights may be invalid. This makes the Charter the most important law we have in Canada. It is important to point out, however, that the Charter itself allows governments to put some limits on Charter rights. Section 1 of the Charter says that other laws may limit the rights and freedoms in the Charter so long as those laws are reasonable and justified in a free and democratic society. The fact that the Charter is part of the Constitution also means that governments must try to make sure that new laws are logical, for example, the federal Department of Justice must make sure that new laws proposed by the federal government comply with the Charter. The Charter came into effect on April 17, 1982. One section of the Charter, section 15, came into effect only on April 17, 1985, three years after the rest of the Charter. This delay gave governments time to bring their laws into line with the equality rights in section 15. Section 1 of the Charter says that governments may limit Charter rights so long as those limits are ones that a free and democratic society would accept as reasonable. It is also possible for governments to pass laws that take away some rights under the Charter.
By Shambhavi
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Canadian History
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