Difference between revisions of "Charter Rights: Overview"

Charter rights and freedoms are not absolute. The Charter and the courts recognize that governments can make laws in the broader public interest, even if a law violates a Charter right or freedom. In such a case, a court will ask if the government can justify the violation under section 1. This section says that Charter rights and freedoms are subject to reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably (clearly) justified in a free and democratic society. A court may allow a violation of a Charter right if the government can meet this section 1 test. But section 1 applies only to written laws, not to government action, because it requires any limit on a Charter right to be “prescribed by law.” So when government action violates the Charter, section 1 does not let the government try to justify the violation. The action is unconstitutional.