The Judicialization of Politics

The Supreme Court of Canada’s importance can be measured not only by its rulings’ effects on the country’s law and the immediate policy issues that come before it but also by the influence its decisions have on governance, political culture, and public discourse. A fundamental aspect of the “judicialization of politics,” which is enacted by the Charter  in Canada – in which the Court is a central actor – is not only the transfer of power to the courts but also, in Peter Russell’s words, “a general transformation of the nature of political life.” The decision to entrench the Charter  has had significant consequences. Ran Hirschl argues that the Charter  has encouraged legislatures to abrogate political responsibility for the resolution of contentious national questions. He contends that the transformation of controversial and complex political issues into legal questions deprives most of the citizenry of the opportunity to address these issues through public deliberation and other forms of participation.

--Emmett Macfarlane, introduction to Governing from the Bench: The Supreme Court of Canada and the Judicial Role, Law and Society (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2013), 2.