Elmer Driedger
Encyclopedia
Elmer A. Driedger, QC
, BA
, LL.B
, LL.D (1913–1985) was a Canadian
lawyer
and a leading authority on statutory interpretation
. He worked for the Canadian Department of Justice
for over a quarter century, rising to Deputy Minister
and later became a professor
of law
at the University of Ottawa
.
, 14 January 1913 to a Mennonite
family and grew up speaking German
as well as English. He attended elementary school in Osler and high school in Rosthern
.
's preferred approach. The principle, which was originally laid out in his 1974 book, The Construction of Statutes, was quoted verbatim in the court's decision in Rizzo & Rizzo Shoes Ltd.:
The Construction of Statutes became an influential text in Canadian legal circles. A second edition was published in 1983 under the title Driedger on the Construction of Statutes. Following Driedger's death, Ruth Sullivan, a law professor at the University of Ottawa
, continued to edit updated editions. A third edition was published in 1994, a fourth edition in 2002, and a fifth edition in 2008. Sullivan has become so closely associated with the updated edition of the book that it has since been retitled, Sullivan on the Construction of Statutes.
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
, BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
, LL.B
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
, LL.D (1913–1985) was a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and a leading authority on statutory interpretation
Statutory interpretation
Statutory interpretation is the process by which courts interpret and apply legislation. Some amount of interpretation is always necessary when a case involves a statute. Sometimes the words of a statute have a plain and straightforward meaning. But in many cases, there is some ambiguity or...
. He worked for the Canadian Department of Justice
Department of Justice (Canada)
The purpose of the Department of Justice is to ensure that the Canadian justice system is fair, accessible and efficient. The Department also represents the Canadian government in legal matters...
for over a quarter century, rising to Deputy Minister
Deputy Minister (Canada)
In Canada, a deputy minister is the senior civil servant in a government department. He or she takes political direction from an elected minister. Responsibility for the department's day-to-day operations, budget and program development lie with the deputy minister...
and later became a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
at the University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
.
Early life
Elmer A. Driedger was born in Osler, SaskatchewanOsler, Saskatchewan
-External links:**...
, 14 January 1913 to a Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
family and grew up speaking German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
as well as English. He attended elementary school in Osler and high school in Rosthern
Rosthern, Saskatchewan
Rosthern is a town at the juncture of Highway 11 and Highway 312 in the central area of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located roughly halfway between the cities of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.-History:...
.
Education
- He entered the University of SaskatchewanUniversity of SaskatchewanThe University of Saskatchewan is a Canadian public research university, founded in 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. An "Act to establish and incorporate a University for the Province of Saskatchewan" was passed by the...
in 1929, receiving his B.A. degree in 1932 and his LL.B. degree in 1934. - He won a scholarship to the University of Marburg and studied there from 1934-1935: "The combination of his academic ability and German led to a scholarship at Marburg University, offered on somewhat the same criteria as the Rhodes scholarshipRhodes ScholarshipThe Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
s" - Attended Kiel University in 1935; "political developments in Germany force his return to Canada a year so before the war."
- He was awarded an honoraryHonorary degreeAn honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
Doctor of LawsDoctor of lawDoctor of Law or Doctor of Laws is a doctoral degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country, and includes degrees such as the LL.D., Ph.D., J.D., J.S.D., and Dr. iur.-Argentina:...
degree by the University of OttawaUniversity of OttawaThe University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
in 1963.
Career
- After returning from Germany to Depression-stricken Saskatchewan, he "ek[ed] out a living in Yorkton" and lectured in Company Law at the University of Saskatchewan.
- He was hired in December 1940 as a librarian for the Supreme Court of CanadaSupreme Court of CanadaThe Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
, working under Chief Justice Lyman Duff. - He joined the Department of Justice in December 1941.
- Driedger became the Department's main legislative draftsman.
- He was appointed an Assistant Deputy Minister of Justice in 1954.
- He was appointed Deputy Minister of Justice 1 July 1960 and retired in 1967.
- He was than appointed Consul General of Canada to HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
on 1 March 1967. - Joined Queen's UniversityQueen's UniversityQueen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
's Faculty of Law in August 1969. - Joined the University of OttawaUniversity of OttawaThe University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
Faculty of Law in July 1970, retiring in June 1979.- He established a course in legislative drafting funded by the federal government.
Professional Involvement
- He was a member of the Statute Revision Commissions of 1949 and 1965.
- He was a member of the National Council on Administration of Justice, 1958-1967.
- He was a member of the Commissioners on Uniformity of Legislation, 1947-1967.
- He was a member of the Law Societies of Upper CanadaLaw Society of Upper CanadaThe Law Society of Upper Canada is responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1797, it is known in French as "Le Barreau du Haut-Canada"...
and of Saskatchewan - He was appointed a federal King's Counsel in 1949
- He assisted the Commonwealth SecretariatCommonwealth SecretariatThe Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating cooperation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings ; assisting and advising on policy...
in the setting up of its courses on legislative drafting and he advised the Government of AustraliaGovernment of AustraliaThe Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...
in establishing the Legislative Drafting Institute http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2004A00065 (now defunct).
Current Influence
His principle of statutory interpretation is the Supreme Court of CanadaSupreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
's preferred approach. The principle, which was originally laid out in his 1974 book, The Construction of Statutes, was quoted verbatim in the court's decision in Rizzo & Rizzo Shoes Ltd.:
The Construction of Statutes became an influential text in Canadian legal circles. A second edition was published in 1983 under the title Driedger on the Construction of Statutes. Following Driedger's death, Ruth Sullivan, a law professor at the University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
, continued to edit updated editions. A third edition was published in 1994, a fourth edition in 2002, and a fifth edition in 2008. Sullivan has become so closely associated with the updated edition of the book that it has since been retitled, Sullivan on the Construction of Statutes.
Books and Articles
- "Legislative Drafting" (1949)
- "The Retrospective Operation of Statutes" (1950)
- "Memorandum on the Drafting of Acts of Parliament and Subordinate Legislation" (1951)
- "A New Approach to Statutory Interpretation" (1951)
- "The Preparation of Legislation" (1953)
- The composition of legislation (1957)
- "Subordinate Legislation" (1959)
- "Constitutional Amendment in Canada" (1962)
- Legislative forms and precedents (1963)
- "The Canadian Bill of Rights" (1968)
- "Statute of Westminster and Constitutional Amendment" (1968)
- The Construction of Statutes (1974)
- The composition of legislation: legislative forms and precedents (1976)
- "The Meaning and Effect of the Canadian Bill of Rights: A Draftsman's Viewpoint" (1977)
- Codification Des Actes De L'Amerique Du Nord Britannique, 1867 a 1975, (ed) ISBN 0660005107
- "Statutes: Retroactive Reflections" (1978)
- "Statutes: The Mischievous Literal Golden Rules." (1981)
- A manual of instructions for legislative and legal writing (1982)
- "The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms" (1982)
- Construction of Statutes (2nd ed., 1983) ISBN 0409828033 cited 14 times by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2006.