L'autorité des obiter dicta de la Cour suprême

En 1980, la Cour suprême du Canada a rendu, dans l'arrêt Sellars, une décision qui a été interprétée par plusieurs juristes comme formulant un principe attribuant un effet contraignant à certains obiter dicta de la Cour. Autrefois limitée à la ratio decidendi, la portée obligatoire d'une décision de la Cour suprême s'étendrait dorénavant aux obiter dicta partagés par une majorité de juges. C'est, du moins, le principe qui a été reconnu et adopté par une majorité des cours d'appel canadiennes et par un nombre important de tribunaux inférieurs. Cette étude vise à retracer l'émergence de ce qu'on peut appeler «le principe Sellars». Ensuite, nous tentons d'isoler certains facteurs qui en expliqueraient l'apparition en droit canadien, pour, enfin, déterminer si, dorénavant, les obiter dicta de la Cour suprême doivent être traités comme des arguments d'autorité ou comme des diktats autoritaires.

The Promotion of 'SYMMETRICAL' European Citizenship: A Federal Perspective

This paper contributes to the ongoing debate about symmetrical citizenship at the European level by searching out new areas for consideration, in particular the judicial politics of European citizenship. Using a federal comparative perspective, it sheds light on the potential role the European Court of Justice (ECJ) could play in promoting symmetrical citizenship through the comparison with the experience of the early United States and of its Supreme Court. This paper proceeds to discuss why the ECJ has not acted in a way similar to that of the US Supreme Court, and concludes by offering some recommendations for a possible role of the ECJ as a critical agent in the promotion of Union citizenship beyond the economic sphere.

Institutional Persistence and Change in England's Common Law: 1700-1865

Institutions are widely regarded as important, even ultimate drivers of economic growth and performance. A recent mainstream of institutional economics has concentrated on the effect of persisting, often imprecisely measured institutions and on cataclysmic events as agents of noteworthy institutional change. As a consequence, institutional change without large-scale shocks has received little attention. In this dissertation I apply a complementary, quantitative-descriptive approach that relies on measures of actually enforced institutions to study institutional persistence and change over a long time period that is undisturbed by the typically studied cataclysmic events. By placing institutional change into the center of attention one can recognize different speeds of institutional innovation and the continuous coexistence of institutional persistence and change. Specifically, I combine text mining procedures, network analysis techniques and statistical approaches to study persistence and change in England’s common law over the Industrial Revolution (1700-1865). Based on the doctrine of precedent - a peculiarity of common law systems - I construct and analyze the apparently first citation network that reflects lawmaking in England. Most strikingly, I find large-scale change in the making of English common law around the turn of the 19th century - a period free from the typically studied cataclysmic events. Within a few decades a legal innovation process with low depreciation rates (1 to 2 percent) and strong past-persistence transitioned to a present-focused innovation process with significantly higher depreciation rates (4 to 6 percent) and weak past-persistence. Comparison with U.S. Supreme Court data reveals a similar U.S. transition towards the end of the 19th century. The English and U.S. transitions appear to have unfolded in a very specific manner: a new body of law arose during the transitions and developed in a self-referential manner while the existing body of law lost influence, but remained prominent. Additional findings suggest that Parliament doubled its influence on the making of case law within the first decades after the Glorious Revolution and that England’s legal rules manifested a high degree of long-term persistence. The latter allows for the possibility that the often-noted persistence of institutional outcomes derives from the actual persistence of institutions.

La construcción teórica de los acuerdos ejecutivos en el derecho estadounidense. El aporte de la Corte Suprema

La celebración de acuerdos ejecutivos constituye una práctica fuertemente arraigada en la política internacional de los Estados Unidos. En el desarrollo teórico sobre el tema, la jurisprudencia de la Corte Suprema de ese país ha desempeñado un papel significativo al contribuir al esclarecimiento de algunos aspectos complejos de esta clase de convenios. Precisamente, este aporte se propone, como objetivo, examinar algunas instancias relevantes en la evolución de la jurisprudencia del alto tribunal referente a los acuerdos en forma simplificada. El recorrido por el tema permite advertir que la construcción teórica de los acuerdos ejecutivos en el escenario normativo estadounidense constituye un proceso dinámico expuesto a una frecuente renovación de sus criterios centrales.

LA PROTECCIÓN DE LOS DERECHOS DE AUTOR EN LAS INSTITUCIONES PÚBLICAS: EL CASO DEL TRIBUNAL SUPREMO DE ELECCIONES

Las instituciones públicas tienen el derecho de disfrutar de latitularidad de las obras literarias que producen, según estácontemplado en la legislación nacional. A pesar de que lalegislación es clara, las instituciones del Estado no siempre registran sus obras en el Registro Nacional de Derechos de Autor y Derechos Conexos. Se estudia en particular el caso del Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones para determinar cuáles obras tiene inscritas, cuáles faltan por registrar y por qué.

Charte canadienne et droits linguistiques : frontières allégoriques et autres assertions consensuelles

La frontière entre le politique et l'intellectualisme militant est, d'ordinaire, ténue. Tout univers politico-constitutionnel est ainsi susceptible de faire les frais d'un martèlement doctrinal qui, à maints égards, relève davantage du construit que du donné. Résultante directe d'une construction parfois intéressée, le récit identitaire, à force de répétition, s'installera confortablement sur les sièges de l'imaginaire populaire. Il accèdera, au fil du temps, au statut de mythe pur et simple. Ce dernier, politiquement parlant, revêt de puissants effets aphrodisiaques. La présente thèse doctorale s'intéresse plus particulièrement aux mythes créés, depuis 1982, par un segment de la doctrine québécoise : en matière de droits linguistiques, objet principal de notre étude, Charte canadienne des droits et libertés et Cour suprême, toutes deux liguées contre le Québec, combineront leurs efforts afin d'assurer le recul du fait français dans la Belle Province. Quant aux francophones hors Québec, ceux-ci, depuis l'effritement du concept de nation canadienne-française, sont dorénavant exclus de l'équation, expurgés de l'échiquier constitutionnel. En fait, l'adoption d'un nationalisme méthodologique comme nouvelle orthodoxie politique et doctrinale rend ardue, en plusieurs sens, la conciliation de leur existence avec les paradigmes et épistémologie maintenant consacrés. Ainsi, et selon la logique du tiers exclu, une victoire francophone hors Québec signifiera, du fait d'une prétendue symétrie interprétative, un gain pour la communauté anglo-québécoise. Cette thèse vise à discuter de la teneur de diverses allégories établies et, le cas échéant, à reconsidérer la portée réelle de la Charte canadienne en matière linguistique. Il sera alors démontré que plusieurs lieux communs formulés par les milieux intellectuels québécois échouent au moins partiellement, le test de l'analyse factuelle. Celui-ci certifiera de l'exclusion, par la doxa, de toute décision judiciaire ou autre vérité empirique ne pouvant cadrer à même les paramètres, voire les prismes, de l'orthodoxie suggérée.

The creation and evaluation of novel canine training aids for cocaine using molecularly encapsulated sol-gel polymers and an investigation of canine field accuracy

Biological detectors, such as canines, are valuable tools used for the rapid identification of illicit materials. However, recent increased scrutiny over the reliability, field accuracy, and the capabilities of each detection canine is currently being evaluated in the legal system. For example, the Supreme Court case, State of Florida v. Harris, discussed the need for continuous monitoring of canine abilities, thresholds, and search capabilities. As a result, the fallibility of canines for detection was brought to light, as well as a need for further research and understanding of canine detection. This study is two-fold, as it looks to not only create new training aids for canines that can be manipulated for dissipation control, but also investigates canine field accuracy to objects with similar odors to illicit materials. ^ It was the goal of this research to improve upon current canine training aid mimics. Sol-gel polymer training aids, imprinted with the active odor of cocaine, were developed. This novel training aid improved upon the longevity of currently existing training aids, while also provided a way to manipulate the polymer network to alter the dissipation rate of the imprinted active odors. The manipulation of the polymer network could allow handlers to control the abundance of odors presented to their canines, familiarizing themselves to their canine’s capabilities and thresholds, thereby increasing the canines’ strength in court.^ The field accuracy of detection canines was recently called into question during the Supreme Court case, State of Florida v. Jardines, where it was argued that if cocaine’s active odor, methyl benzoate, was found to be produced by the popular landscaping flower, snapdragons, canines will false alert to said flowers. Therefore, snapdragon flowers were grown and tested both in the laboratory and in the field to determine the odors produced by snapdragon flowers; the persistence of these odors once flowers have been cut; and whether detection canines will alert to both growing and cut flowers during a blind search scenario. Results revealed that although methyl benzoate is produced by snapdragon flowers, certified narcotics detection canines can distinguish cocaine’s odor profile from that of snapdragon flowers and will not alert.^

Strategic Diplomacies: Indigenous Governance, International Politics, and Natural Resources in Canada

International Relations theory would predict that central governments, with their considerable material resources, would be unlikely to face a challenge from a substate government. However, substate governments, and particularly Indigenous governments, are pushing back against central government control in both domestic and international spheres. Indigenous governments are leveraging their local mining sectors to realize their interests and express local identities—interests and identities that may not be congruent with those of the central government. Applying the case study of the resource extraction sector in Canada, this thesis asks: under what conditions are substate governments able to challenge the authority of central governments in the international arena? Canada’s reliance on the global extractive resource sector is a major driver of its international policy preferences, but the increased engagement of Indigenous governments in the sector challenges the control of the federal government. Focusing on the resource extraction sectors in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Ontario, this thesis argues that there is a mutually reinforcing relationship between Indigenous governments’ international engagement and their domestic autonomy; both challenge the parameters of state authority. Both force the state to respond to claims of control from multiple sites and to clarify convoluted policy environments. A confluence of factors—including increased Indigenous connections to the globalized economy, new Canadian regulatory frameworks, and recent Supreme Court of Canada cases regarding Indigenous lands—have all altered the space in which Indigenous governments in Canada participate in the resource extraction sector and produce overlapping or multilevel governance structures. This thesis demonstrates that Indigenous international engagement entrenches the authority and political legitimacy manifest in Indigenous governments’ insistence on equitable and horizontal negotiations in Canada’s lucrative resource extraction sector. A cumulative process occurs in which domestic and international expressions of political autonomy reinforce each other, produce further opportunities to express authority in both environments, and trouble the state’s capacity to fully realize its international policy preferences.

Roster of State Officials, 2007

Pursuant to Iowa Code section 2B.5, the State Roster is published as a correct list of state officers and deputies, members of boards and commissions, justices of the Supreme Court, judges of the Court of Appeals, judges of the district courts, including district associate judges and judicial magistrates, and members of the General Assembly. More specifically, the State Roster lists the membership of active, policy-making boards and commissions established by state law, executive order of the Governor, or Iowa Court Rule. The State Roster may also list advisory councils of a permanent nature whose members are appointed by the Governor, as well as other boards and commissions of interest to the public.

Roster of State Officials, 2001

Pursuant to Iowa Code section 2B.5, the State Roster is published as a correct list of state officers and deputies, members of boards and commissions, justices of the Supreme Court, judges of the Court of Appeals, judges of the district courts, including district associate judges and judicial magistrates, and members of the General Assembly. More specifically, the State Roster lists the membership of active, policy-making boards and commissions established by state law, executive order of the Governor, or Iowa Court Rule. The State Roster may also list advisory councils of a permanent nature whose members are appointed by the Governor, as well as other boards and commissions of interest to the public.

Roster of State Officials, 2000

Pursuant to Iowa Code section 2B.5, the State Roster is published as a correct list of state officers and deputies, members of boards and commissions, justices of the Supreme Court, judges of the Court of Appeals, judges of the district courts, including district associate judges and judicial magistrates, and members of the General Assembly. More specifically, the State Roster lists the membership of active, policy-making boards and commissions established by state law, executive order of the Governor, or Iowa Court Rule. The State Roster may also list advisory councils of a permanent nature whose members are appointed by the Governor, as well as other boards and commissions of interest to the public.

Roster of State Officials, 1999

Pursuant to Iowa Code section 2B.5, the State Roster is published as a correct list of state officers and deputies, members of boards and commissions, justices of the Supreme Court, judges of the Court of Appeals, judges of the district courts, including district associate judges and judicial magistrates, and members of the General Assembly. More specifically, the State Roster lists the membership of active, policy-making boards and commissions established by state law, executive order of the Governor, or Iowa Court Rule. The State Roster may also list advisory councils of a permanent nature whose members are appointed by the Governor, as well as other boards and commissions of interest to the public.

Roster of State Officials, 1998

Pursuant to Iowa Code section 2B.5, the State Roster is published as a correct list of state officers and deputies, members of boards and commissions, justices of the Supreme Court, judges of the Court of Appeals, judges of the district courts, including district associate judges and judicial magistrates, and members of the General Assembly. More specifically, the State Roster lists the membership of active, policy-making boards and commissions established by state law, executive order of the Governor, or Iowa Court Rule. The State Roster may also list advisory councils of a permanent nature whose members are appointed by the Governor, as well as other boards and commissions of interest to the public.