A Passion for Justice: The Legacy of James Chalmers McRuer - Hardcover

Boyer, Patrick

9780802006561: A Passion for Justice: The Legacy of James Chalmers McRuer

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802006566 ISBN 13: 9780802006561

Publisher: Univ of Toronto Pr, 1994

Patrick Boyer's portrait of James Chalmers McRuer (1890-1985), one of Canada's most outstanding jurists, sets out to discover the character of the man who played a key role in the evolution of Canadian law. His career of more than fifty years included service on the Archambault Royal Commission on Penal Reform from 1936 to 1938. He was appointed judge on the Ontario Court of Appeal in 1944, chief justice of the Ontario High Court in 1945, and from 1964 to 1971 he was head of the Royal Commission Inquiry into Civil Rights. From 1964 to 1977 he was chairman and later vice-chairman of the Ontario Law Reform Commission. The commission, the first such body in the British Commonwealth, was created largely through his efforts. He was its moving spirit for more than a decade, and his work on it was his most important legacy to future generations.

The driving spirit behind McRuer was his passion for justice, rising from his conviction that the justice system should serve the oppressed, regardless of their ability to pay. As a law reformer, McRuer saw a pressing need to adapt the law so that it could better serve all people in the changed conditions of the twentieth century. He possessed a sharp sensitivity to the often hidden injustices existing in an advanced industrial society and a bureaucratic state.

In his pursuit of the impulses that fuelled McRuer's career, Boyer reveals the anomalies within the man who was committed to penal reform but was known as 'Hanging Jim' for his readiness to send people to the gallows. A curious personal insensitivity was combined with legendary kindness. Not many people know that it was James Chalmers McRuer who `discovered' the tenor Jon Vickers, and rescued him from a job at Kresge's to send him to the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

McRuer in his judgments and in his public work, articulated much that underlies the sense of Canadian law.

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From the Inside Flap:

'His was the life of an idealistic realist - dedicated to fighting injustice, to protecting individual rights and to defending the best of our political and legal traditions, while still welcoming reform.'

'A fascinating account of one of the greatest and oddest judges in Canadian legal history. Patrick Boyer's vast research has resulted in an important book.'

'Boyer vividly presents, in a highly readable fashion, a fascinating record of an extremely complex Canadian personality. Chief Justice McRuer, whose legal career covered almost eight decades of this century, was at the same time, a leading prison reformer, a heavy sentencer and affectionately known as "Hanging Jim." He had a great sense of fair play and yet was known as mean son-of-a-bitch. He was stern and unforgiving, referred to as "The last Great Puritan," yet is regarded as "the greatest law reformer ever in Canada." Thanks to Patrick Boyer, we can all appreciate and understand the human dimension, the flaws of character and greatness of a very important, common sense jurist. I recommend this book to everyone interested in Canadian history, law or letters.'

'A major and highly readable contribution to Canadian legal history.'

About the Author:

J. Patrick Boyer studied law at the International Court of Justice in The Netherlands, served as Canada’s Parliamentary Secretary for External Affairs, and works for democratic development overseas. The author of twenty-three books on Canadian history, law, politics, and governance, Patrick lives with wife, Elise, in Muskoka and Toronto.

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