Justice Frank Iacobucci on principles of fairness in employment law
LE3 .A278 2013
2013
Grant, James
Acadia University
Bachelor of Business Administration
Honours
Business Administration
Business
The purpose of this research is to identify themes in Supreme Court of Canada Justice Frank Iacobucci relating to employment law. Previous research on Justice Iacobucci did not focus specifically on employment law or did not attempt to identify his decision-making criteria (Langille & Macklem, 2007). Since there is much scholarly and public debate about whether the Supreme Court of Canada came to the right decision on a particularly decisive issue, it is important to understand any principles the justices may follow (Roach, 2007). The chosen cases reflect those that scholars consider watershed cases in their respective fields (Roach, 2007). Through the grounded theory approach to analysis, themes within the cases became prominent (Kelle, 2005). These themes related to or contrasted with what appeared in the existing literature (Langille & Macklem, 2007). The results show different influences of Justice Iacobucci’s approach to law, including: the power of judicial review, the dialogue metaphor, his time as an academic, existing employment jurisprudence, and political leanings. Most notably, the research showed that, although justices often claim that they do not use ethical theories, Justice Iacobucci in particular valued the principles of justice. A principled decision usually meant a fairer outcome for both parties than if the justice did not rely on such principles. He also tended to produce consistent outcomes among similar cases. Future lawyers can learn from Justice Iacobucci’s method in order to understand how to create the best possible outcome.
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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:955