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Not Quite Supreme

The Courts and Coordinate Constitutional Interpretation

Dennis Baker author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:McGill-Queen's University Press

Published:1st Jan '10

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Not Quite Supreme cover

A critique of the Supreme Court of Canada's power and a defence of Parliament's role in constitutional interpretation.

Baker argues that coordinate interpretation - a model which requires both elected and appointed officials to interpret the Charter - allows for the creation of a more robust democracy, alleviating some of the tension between constitutionalism and democracy while limiting judicial activism. Drawing on literature from Montesquieu to recent court decisions, Not Quite Supreme gives an extensive critique of both Canadian and American judicial models and explores the tensions between the separation of powers in both countries. Not Quite Supreme is a fresh and substantial contribution to the debate, advancing a new argument in support of a more diverse tradition of legal decision making in Canada that makes the constitution, rather than individual decisions of the Court, its cornerstone.

"Cogently argued and easy to read, this book is a serious piece of scholarship. It belongs in the company of books by some of America's most distinguished legal scholars." - Donald P. Kommers, Faculty of Law, University of Notre Dame

ISBN: 9780773536814

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

220 pages