At the Forefront of Advances in Constitutional Rights

Our lawyers have extensive experience in constitutional litigation. We have been at the forefront of major developments and legal advances for constitutional rights in Canada, including by representing First Nations at the negotiating table in Ottawa that led to the adoption of the Constitution Act, 1982, which includes Aboriginal rights and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Apart from our vast experience with Aboriginal rights under section 35 of the Constitution, we have represented clients on a broad range of other constitutional issues including:

• Equality rights litigation under section 15 of the Charter.
• Right to life, liberty and security of the person under section 7 of the Charter, including work on a landmark case invoking these rights on behalf sex trade workers in Vancouver, work on behalf of young people seeking to compel action on climate change, and successfully arguing the seminal Supreme Court of Canada case that established the broad protections that Canadians now enjoy under section 7.
• Jurisdictional issues involving the division of powers between the provincial and federal government, particularly relating to the application of laws to First Nations.
• We successfully challenged the provincial regulation of salmon farms as falling beyond provincial jurisdiction in Morton v. AGBC.

Protecting and advancing the fundamental constitutional rights and liberties of Canadians and the Aboriginal rights of Indigenous peoples is core to Ratcliff’s identity and the values that we as individuals hold.