Positivist and pluralist trends in Canadian Aboriginal Law: the judicial imagination and performance of sovereignty in Indigenous-state relations

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorBeaton, Ryan
dc.contributor.supervisorBorrows, John
dc.contributor.supervisorTully, James
dc.date.accessioned2021-09-14T20:31:55Z
dc.date.copyright2021en_US
dc.date.issued2021-09-14
dc.degree.departmentFaculty of Law
dc.degree.levelDoctor of Philosophy Ph.D.en_US
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation identifies institutional positivism and historically grounded pluralism as interpretive trends in the Canadian case law on Indigenous-state relations, and explores tensions between these trends. These are tensions between practices of judicial interpretation, not between theories of interpretation or legal concepts. They are practices developed case- by-case, with interpretive trends emerging over time through series of cases addressing similar issues in related contexts. Institutional positivist approaches insist that judicial recognition of Indigenous legal orders and accommodation of Indigenous interests must take place within established constitutional forms founded on state sovereignty. Historically grounded pluralist approaches show greater willingness to balance principles of state sovereignty against principles of popular sovereignty and of Indigenous priority in Canadian territory. While the two approaches overlap significantly, their differences sometimes lead to contrasting legal conclusions on key issues of, e.g., treaty interpretation, the relationship between Indigenous legal orders and the state legal system, and the jurisdictional dimension of Aboriginal title. This dissertation examines these positivist-pluralist tensions in the context of the current period of ideological transition and rapidly evolving imaginaries of Indigenous-state relations. Chapters 1 and 2 explore the case law to highlight concrete ways in which this ideological transition finds doctrinal expression in both positivist and pluralist modes. Chapters 3 and 4 offer broader reflections on philosophical debates relating to legal positivism and the role of popular sovereignty in constitutional interpretation by Canadian courts. The final chapter then considers the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in Canadian law, with a focus on implementing legislation recently adopted by British Columbia and on two recent judgments that split the Supreme Court of Canada on the proper role of the Canadian judiciary in coordinating Canadian state law with non-state legal orders (Indigenous in one case and international in the other). This concluding chapter explains how the ongoing interplay of positivist and pluralist concerns will inevitably shape the reception of UNDRIP in Canadian law and the ongoing elaboration of Canadian Aboriginal law more generally.en_US
dc.description.scholarlevelGraduateen_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationBeaton, Ryan, Articles 27 and 46(2): UNDRIP Signposts Pointing Beyond the Justifiable-Infringement Morass of Section 35 (2018). UNDRIP Implementation: More Reflections on the Braiding of International, Domestic and Indigenous Laws (Centre for International Governance Innovation 2018), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3396121en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationBeaton, R. (2018). De facto and de jure crown sovereignty: Reconciliation and legitimation at the supreme court of canada. Constitutional Forum / Forum Constitutionnel, 26(4), 25. https://doi.org/10.21991/cf29360en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationBeaton, R. (2018). The crown fiduciary duty at the supreme court of canada. Centre for International Governance Innovation.en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationBeaton, R. (2019). Legal Pluralism and Caron v Alberta: A Canadian Case Study in Constitutional Interpretation. Review of Constitutional Studies, 24(1), 123-154. https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/05_Beaton-5.pdfen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/13391
dc.languageEnglisheng
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.subjectAboriginal Lawen_US
dc.subjectConstitutional Lawen_US
dc.subjectLegal Philosophyen_US
dc.subjectPluralismen_US
dc.subjectLegal Positivismen_US
dc.subjectCanadian Legal Historyen_US
dc.subjectAboriginal Titleen_US
dc.subjectIndigenous-State Relationsen_US
dc.subjectIndigenous Rightsen_US
dc.subjectSovereigntyen_US
dc.subjectPopular Sovereigntyen_US
dc.subjectCrown Sovereigntyen_US
dc.subjectColonialismen_US
dc.subjectBritish Colonial Lawen_US
dc.titlePositivist and pluralist trends in Canadian Aboriginal Law: the judicial imagination and performance of sovereignty in Indigenous-state relationsen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Beaton_Ryan_PhD_2021.pdf
Size:
3.94 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
2 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD)
 
University of Victoria Libraries

We acknowledge and respect the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Esquimalt) Peoples on whose territory the university stands, and the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.