Judging the Charter

The Charter in judicial practise with a special focus on the case of protection of refugees and asylum seekers

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The Charter in a nutshell - Enforceability

Are all of the Charter’s rights individually directly enforceable?

Yes, they are divided into rights, freedoms and principles but all of them are individually directly enforceable as they were included in the Charter in order to protect individuals.
No, only rights and freedoms are individually directly enforceable. But the Charter contains also principles that are rather understood as policy optimization commands.
No, no Charter’s right is individually directly enforceable, it all depends on the interpretation of the court in particular case.

The Charter includes rights, freedoms and principles. Charter’s ‘rights’ are individually enforceable; this category contains both rights and freedoms whilst ‘principles’ need implementation. They provide different levels of the protection and have different meanings.

Most of the Charter provisions include enforceable rights. But there is no official list enumerating the Charter’s principles, it is still till some extent an open question and a matter for interpretation, what can be considered as a rights or as a principle.

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