Canada

The new Canadian Constitution of 1982 replaced the Bill of Rights with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms provides the fundamental and immutable rights such as democratic rights, mobility rights, legal rights, language rights, equality rights, and minority language rights, as well as specific freedoms like freedom of religion and thought. However, the Charter includes one of the most controversial elements in the entire new Constitution of Canada, the Notwithstanding Clause in Section 33. Section 33 was included in the Charter specifically because the provinces feared an imbalance of power away from elected officials toward the appointed officials in the judiciary. After all, any law passed by any government -- whether provincial or federal -- could be held up to legal scrutiny by the courts. The courts could then negate laws passed by provincial legislatures at will, thereby weakening the legislative branch....
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