The Rule of Law?

I am by no means a scholar, but my practice of law for over 30 years has given me a keen appreciation of how societies that are governed by the rule of law operate.

We are fortunate to live in a country where our basic freedoms and rights are protected by law. The law is supposed to protect us and empower us as citizens in our relations with other members of our society, and our relations with the state.

The state is a powerful entity which has seemingly unlimited resources to exert its will. In parliamentary democracies, the state needs to be subject to the checks and balances provided by the law, so that its power is exercised lawfully. As citizens we need to have meaningful access to the justice system. These are the more “lofty” considerations one encounters in considering what the rule of law means.

In our day to day lives, the more mundane examples could include being treated fairly by Service Canada in making an application for Survivors benefits under the CPP, where your common law spouse passes away, suing a customer to enforce the payment of a debt, or complaining to the dog pound about your neighbour’s incessantly barking dog. All these examples include processes that are guided by rules and procedures, that have as their goal, the orderly resolution of a claim or dispute.

A lawyer can guide you and advise you to help you navigate your decisions and understand the complexity of, and the legal procedures that may be involved in, the legal issues you face. A lawyer's stock and trade is the advice they can give their clients.

Dave O'Connor