However, The Bill of Rights is not as successful as The Charter of Rights and Freedoms which falls under the Constitution Act of 1982 which is part of the Canada Act of 1982. The Charter has the same purpose as The Bill of Rights, but it gives citizens and non-citizens more rights and protection from the government. It has also been used to strike down many laws that infringed on people’s rights such as abortion laws and same sex marriage. (274 words).
2. Liberalism is a legal theory that emphasizes individual rights and freedoms over utilitarianism. John Locke is known as one of the key figures in liberalism, and he describes a social contract that would ensure individual rights and an equal relationship between citizens and the government. There are four main themes that are outlines by Brian Tamanaha. Firstly; “the individual is free to the extent that the laws are created democratically. Citizens have thereby consented to, indeed authored, the rules they are obligated to follow. The individual is at once ruler and ruled” . Therefore citizens must participate in creating the laws that will govern them otherwise they are not obligated to follow them.