Blocking Public Participation: The Use of Strategic Litigation to Silence Political Expression - Couverture souple

Sheldrick, Byron

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1554589290 ISBN 13 : 9781554589296

Editeur : Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2014

Synopsis

Strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPP) involves lawsuits brought by individuals, corporations, groups, or politicians to curtail political activism and expression. An increasingly large part of the political landscape in Canada, they are often launched against those protesting, boycotting, or participating in some form of political activism.

A common feature of SLAPPs is that their intention is rarely to win the case or secure a remedy; rather, the suit is brought to create a chill on political expression. Blocking Public Participation examines the different types of litigation and causes of action that frequently form the basis of SLAPPs, and how these lawsuits transform political disputes into legal cases, thereby blocking political engagement. The resource imbalance between plaintiffs and defendants allows plaintiffs to tie up defendants in complex and costly legal processes. The book also examines the dangers SLAPPs pose to political expression and to the quality and integrity of our democratic political institutions. Finally, the book examines the need to regulate SLAPPs in Canada and assesses various regulatory proposals.
In Canada, considerable attention has been paid to the "legalization of politics" and the impact on the Charter in diverting political activism into the judicial arena. SLAPPs, however, are an under-studied element of this process, and in their obstruction of political engagement through recourse to the courts they have profound implications for democratic practice.

A propos du livre

À propos de l?auteur

Byron Sheldrick is chair of the Political Science Department at the University of Guelph. His research involves the intersection of law and politics and the way social movements organize around legal issues. Before joining the University of Guelph he taught at the University of Winnipeg and at Keele University in the United Kingdom.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
• Date d'édition: 2014
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1554589290
• ISBN 13: 9781554589296
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 182
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible