The rule of law, justice, and interpretation

"Presenting a new theory of legal discourse and constitutional law, Luc Tremblay claims that the rule of law involves a set of practical principles that constitute the ideal type for a conception of law that is both constitutive and regulative of legal discourse and practice. He examines two competing ideal types, the "rule of law as certainty" and the "rule of law as justice." The former, a standard doctrine within contemporary legal, social, and political theory, is shown to be incoherent. Thus the "rule of law as justice," he shows, provides the best basis for understanding legal discourse in general and Canadian constitutional law in particular." "Tremblay examines fundamental issues of legal epistemology and ontology and brings rigorous analytical jurisprudence to bear on interpretations and applications specific to Canadian constitutional law. Given the important implications of his theory for statutory and constitutional interpretation, especially with respect to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the potential crisis involving provincial rights of secession and partition, this book is central to the practice of law in Canada."--BOOK JACKET.