SELECTIVE LEGALITY: THE COMMON LAW JURISDICTIONAL APPEAL

Abstract

Courts of Appeal in Canada are subject to the pressure of increasing case loads. Must their jurisdiction inevitably expand, to the extent now known in civil law jurisdictions and the United States? The common law tradition of selective appellate control may provide no remedy for injustice in the individual case. This increases the pressure, over time, for generalized, non-selective, appellate review. The common law jurisdictional appeal, developed originally in Quebec law as a means of limiting a generalized right of appeal, offers a means of appellate review which is compatible with the tradition of selective legality and the inherent authority of decisions of first instance.