Public Law & Legislation (University of Ottawa CML 1104)

  • Craig Forcese (University of Ottawa Faculty of Law)

Introduction to legislation and public law, focusing on the structure of the Canadian legal system, including: sources of law, the federal legislative process and statutory interpretation; the legal system's constitutional basis; the organization of courts and tribunals in Canada and appeal processes; and the role of the courts in overseeing legislative and administrative action.

3 Practice 3 (Public Law) 3 Practice 3 (Public Law)

3.1 Practice 3 (Public Law) Description 3.1 Practice 3 (Public Law) Description

How did Canada end up with the public law system it has?  One word: history. In this Practice, we address the incentivies and origins of Confederation and the constitutionalization of public law.

Prior to the Practice, you should have completed podcasts 2 and 3.  Also read Forcese, Dodek et al pp. 54-60; 81-89; 92-93 (not DeLaurier). (Please note that we do not formally focus on Ch 2 or the parts of Ch 3 and 4 that are not assigned, but I strongly recommend that you read all of these chapters -- the background information in them will help you in understanding much of what you are encountering in this and other courses).

In our practice session, we return to Public Law Hunger Games for one more round.  Before class, review the rules that appear in this syllabus.  After the round, we discuss the extent to which your simulated experiences reflect (or not) the history of Canadian confederation.

You may also wish to get a jump on the readings and podcasts for Practice 4 -- there are several podcasts you should review in advance of Practice 4 and the first serious tranche of readings.

 

3.2 Public Law Hunger Games: Constitution Round (Public Law) 3.2 Public Law Hunger Games: Constitution Round (Public Law)

Public Law Hunger Games: Constitution Round

Players remain in the states in which they found themselves at the end of Round 3a. In Round 4, the states from Round 3a (hereafter, Fauteux States) are all in an alliance with Maritime Empire, a powerful but distant state possessing a total of 1000 dice. At any given time, however, Maritime Empire is prepared to commit only a fraction of these dice in defence of the Fauteux States from external enemies. This fraction is calculated on a 3 to 1 ratio (that is, Martime Empire will commit 3 dice for every dice possessed by Fauteux States).  

This is significant also because Fauteux States are located very close to an expansionist neighbouring state, Continental Empire. Continental Empire possesses a total of 600 dice, and it is not clear how many dice it might be prepared to commit in order to absorb Fauteux States. But it is clearly interested in doing so.

The following conditions apply:

  • If the Fauteux States can form a Federation, their total dice count will double. If they fail to do so, the dice count will stay the same.
  • If the Fauteux States can form a Federation, it becomes possible to connect them with a railway which will double the number of coins each player has
  • But the railways and other costs of the union will cost a total of 150 coins that have to be financed in some manner from among the assets of the Fauteux States.
  • The Federation must possess a central management that will decide how these 150 coins will be spent. The membership of this management committee must be renewable (that is, it must be capable of reassembling itself as each member “dies” and capable, therefore, of enduring).

    • The objective of Round 4 is to negotiate a Contract of Confederation.

     

    Rules:

    Internal Ratification

    1. Fauteux States are fixed (no player defections between states)
    2. Approval of the Contract of Confederation within each state requires the support of a majority of dice within each the state.
    3. To arrive at this result, the support of dice holders may secured through: a) willing, voluntary support; b) purchased through the exchange of coins; or c) coerced through dice rolls of those who favour of the Contract terms against those who reject them. Once support is coerced through dice rolls in (c), the losing parties are deemed to support the Contract terms in question.
    4. For greater certainty, if dice are rolled under rule # 3(c), the result simply settles the dispute over the settlement terms, and nothing more (that is, coins are not taken away and no one “dies”).

    Inter-State Agreement

    5. Overall ratification of the Contract of Confederation requires that each state achieve internal ratification of the Contract

    Consequences of a failed union

    6. If there is no universal ratification of the Contract of Confederation by all Fauteux States, the federation fails. Thereafter, the game master (me) roles a single dice. That role determines how many dice Continental Empire will deploy in an effort to absorb Fauteux States (with a roll of 1 = 100 dice; 2 = 200 dice; 3 = 300 dice etc.)
    7. If Continental Empires dice exceed the combined dice of Fauteux States + (3 x combined dice of Fauteux States) committed by Maritime Empire, Fauteux States are absorbed into Continental Empire. Continental Empire may then choose how many coins each player must pay as tribute.