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Item Details
| Title:
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THE CANADIAN DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND THE COMPLETION OF CONFEDERATION 1867-78
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| By: |
Jonathan Swainger |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| List price:
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£87.00 |
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We believe that this item is permanently unavailable, and so we cannot source
it.
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| ISBN 10: |
077480792X |
| ISBN 13: |
9780774807920 |
| Publisher: |
UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA PRESS |
| Pub. date: |
26 June, 2000 |
| Pages: |
176 |
| Description: |
Drawing on legal records and other archival documents, Jonathan Swainger considers the growth and development of the ostensibly apolitical Department of Justice in the eleven years after the union of 1867. |
| Synopsis: |
The federal Department of Justice was established by John A.Macdonald as part of the Conservative party's program for reform ofthe parliamentary system following Confederation. Among other things,it was charged with establishing national institutions such as theSupreme Court and the North West Mounted Police and with centralizingthe penitentiary system. In the process, the department took on aposition of primary importance in post-Confederation politics. This wasparticularly so up to 1878, when Confederation was"completed."Jonathan Swainger considers the growth and development of theostensibly apolitical Department of Justice in the eleven years afterthe union of 1867. Drawing on legal records and other archivaldocuments, he details the complex interactions between law andpolitics, exploring how expectations both inside and outside the legalsystem created an environment in which the department acted as anadvisor to the government. He concludes by considering the post-1878legacy of the department's approach to governance, wherein anyproblem, legal or otherwise, was made amenable to politicizedsolutions. Unfortunately for the department and the federal government,this left them ill-prepared for the constitutional battles to come.One crucial task was to establish responsibilities within thefederal government, rather than just duplicate offices which hadexisted prior to union. Others were the establishment of national orquasi- national institutions such as the Supreme Court (1875) and theNorth-West Mounted Police (1873), the redrafting of theGovernor-General's instructions (which was done between 1875 and1877), and centralization of the penitentiary system (completed by1875).The Department benefited from a deeply rooted expectation that lawwas both apolitical and necessary. This ideology functioned in avariety of ways: it gave the Department considerable latitude forsetting policy and solving problems, but rationalized the appearance ofpoliticized legal decisions. It also legitimized Departmentofficials' claim that it was especially suited to review alllegislation, advise on the royal prerogative of mercy, administernational penitentiaries, and appoint judges to the bench. Ultimately,the fictional notion of law as apolitical and necessary placed theDepartment of Justice squarely in the midst of the completion ofConfederation.The Canadian Department of Justice and the Completion ofConfederation will be of particular interest to students and scholarsof Canadian legal and political history. |
| Illustrations: |
5 tables |
| Publication: |
Canada |
| Imprint: |
University of British Columbia Press |
| Returns: |
Returnable |
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