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w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J U N E 2 0 1 7 17 by the judiciary." But that's all history now. Recent conservative appointments to Israel's High Court have brought Barak's constitutional revolution to an end. (Barak himself retired in 2006.) Says The New York Times, "Now the right has the opportunity to prove that it can run the country effectively with- out being fettered by a liberal court." Venezuela's Supreme Court fits into the despised lap dog category. A March 30 article in The New York Times began this way: "Venezuela took its strongest step yet toward one-man rule under the leftist President Nicolás Maduro as his loyalists on the Supreme Court seized power from the National Assembly in a ruling late Wednesday night. The ruling effectively dissolved the elected legis- lature. . . and allows the court to write laws itself . . . " Faced with widespread outrage, both domestic and interna- tional, the court, at the request of Mad- uro, backed down a few days later and reversed its ruling. There is deep sus- picion of Maduro's strategy. What's he up to? The country remains in chaos. The judiciary is totally discredited. The Supreme Court of Venezuela deserves only contempt. So, what about Canada? What kind of dance does our top court have with the executive and legislative branches of government? Sarabande? Waltz? Polka? One thing's for sure, the Supreme Court of Canada has nothing in com- mon with the despised Supreme Court of Venezuela. Nor does it chase all over the country looking for political miscreants, like Brazil's STF. But, some- times, it does look like a muted version of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, or Israel's Supreme Court, flex- ing policy muscles to the dismay of the executive branch. The resemblance to South Africa is no surprise. The South African consti- tution is similar in important respects to the Canadian constitution (Cana- dian advisers had a hand in drafting the South African constitution, particu- larly the Bill of Rights). The South Afri- can Constitutional Court often refers to Canadian jurisprudence. The two courts are sister courts. As for Israel, the similarities are slightly more sinister. When he was prime minister, Stephen Harper was known to have commiser- ated with his friend Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu over the way supreme courts like to flex their muscles. Harper, you may remember, had issues with the Supreme Court of Canada. The court was not always compliant with his wishes, despite being top-heavy with his appointees. He even went as far as pub- licly criticizing Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, an event that caused quite a sensation in our quiet and peaceable land, at least in certain circles (although that largely manufactured controversy was only a tempest in a teapot). I think that the Supreme Court of Canada has got it just about right, inde- pendently contributing to justice and democracy, while avoiding hubris and exercising restraint. Compared to many other top courts, it looks pretty good. Philip Slayton is working on a new book about freedom in Canada. Because business issues are legal issues. So if you want to get ahead in business, get the degree that gets you there faster. ONE YEAR – PART - TIME – NO THESIS FOR L AWYERS AND NON - LAWYERS law.utoronto.ca/ExecutiveLLM GPLLM Global Professional Master of Laws [Get a Master of Laws] ntitled-1 1 2015-02-25 8:38 AM

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