This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(May 2020)
Supreme Court of Canada case
Reference Re Manitoba Language Rights
Supreme Court of Canada
Hearing: June 11, 12, 13, 1984 Judgment: June 13, 1985
Citations
[1985] 1 S.C.R. 721
Docket No.
18606 [1]
Court membership
Reasons given
Unanimous reasons by
The Court
Ritchie and Chouinard JJ. took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Reference Re Manitoba Language Rights, [1985] 1 S.C.R. 721, was a reference question posed to the Supreme Court of Canada regarding provisions in the Manitoba Act stipulating the provision of French language services in the province of Manitoba. The Court heard the appeal in June 1984 and gave its ruling a year later, on June 13, 1985.
Four questions were asked:
Are sections 133 of the Constitution Act, 1867, and 23 of the Manitoba Act, 1870, requiring laws be in both French and English, mandatory in Manitoba, Quebec, and Parliament?
If so, are those Manitoban laws not printed in both languages invalid under section 23 of the Manitoba Act?
If so, do the laws have any force and effect, and if so to what extent?
Are any of the provisions of An Act Respecting the Operation of Section 23 of the Manitoba Act in Regard to Statutes inconsistent with section 23 of the Manitoba Act, 1870, and if so are the provisions invalid and of no legal force and effect?
The Court found that the Constitution Act, 1867, and the Manitoba Act, 1870, did require both languages and that those laws that were not in both languages were of no force and effect. However, they were deemed temporarily valid for a time until translations could be re-enacted in order to avoid a legal vacuum in Manitoba and to ensure the continuity of the rule of law.
This reference was the first time that the courts in Canada had used the remedy of a delayed declaration of invalidity. Despite its exceptional origins, this remedy has grown to become a preferred one in Canadian public law.[2] Manitoba was given a generous period of time to translate the laws and, in 1992, the court was still extending this grace period to be decided by the parties.[3]
^SCC Case Information - Docket 18606 Supreme Court of Canada
^Case comment at end of http://www.emp.ca/downloads/adminlaw/AdminLaw_04_c3_Manitoba.doc.
^ Supplementary reasons [1992] 1 S.C.R. 212.
and 22 Related for: Reference Re Manitoba Language Rights information
students. French in Manitoba Franco-Manitoban Franco-manitoban School Division History of ManitobaReferencereManitobaLanguageRights French in Canada...
mention of the rule of law in ReferenceReManitobaLanguageRights (1985), noting that striking down most of Manitoba's laws as unconstitutional (because...
However, in 1985, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the ReferencereManitobaLanguageRights that section 23 still applied, and that legislation published...
While French has equal legal status in Manitoba restored due to a court ruling, ReferencereManitobaLanguageRights, that struck down seventy-year-old English-only...
in the province. However, in ReferenceReManitobaLanguageRights (1985), the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Manitoba Act §23 still applied, and that...
1976. Manitoba Act Law, government, and crime in Winnipeg ReferencereManitobaLanguageRights Canadian Forces Being a part of Canada, Manitoba does not...
example, in ReferenceReManitobaLanguageRights, the court struck down Manitoba's laws because they were not enacted in the French language, as required...
Paper v Manitoba Free Press Attorney General of Alberta v Attorney General of Canada [1938] UKPC 46 (14 July 1938), P.C., affirming ReferenceRe Alberta...
ReferenceRe Resolution to amend the Constitution – also known as the Patriation Reference – is a historic Supreme Court of Canada reference case that...
constitutional validity of Manitoba's Official Language Act to the Supreme Court of Canada. 1985: ReferencereManitobaLanguageRights: The Supreme Court of...
Conservative Party of Manitoba (French: Parti progressiste-conservateur du Manitoba) is a centre-right political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is currently...
1985, App II, No 32. Manitoba Act, 1870, SC 1870, c 3; Alberta Act, SC 1905, c 3; and Saskatchewan Act, SC 1905, c 42. Human Rights Code, RSBC 1996, c 210...
official languages as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and for other government services, in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario...
The Manitoba Liberal Party (French: Parti libéral du Manitoba) is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late 19th century...
Global Information
