Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, October 21, 2011

Quebec Bar Association asks feds to reconsider Supreme Court appointment

MONTREAL—The Quebec Bar Association is asking the Harper government to reconsider its appointment of a unilingual judge to the Supreme Court of Canada.

It decries the nomination of Justice Michael Moldaver, who does not speak French.

The bar association says Canadian citizens have the right to expect that, when they appear in court, they will be understood regardless of what official language they speak.

It says it would still oppose the nomination if Moldaver only spoke French — not English. The association says the issue here is that a nominee to the high court should be able to understand arguments in both official languages.

Yesterday’s nomination has intensified a debate over bilingualism in the justice system.

Opponents of mandatory bilingualism say what matters most is that a judge can understand the law — and, if there’s a problem with language, the court has translation services.

But the bar association says that’s not fair; it says an earpiece and interpreter are no substitute for understanding someone directly when they’re arguing in court.

The association says this appointment means two of the Supreme Court’s nine judges are now unilingual.

Origin
Source: Toronto Star 

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