Living Tree Doctrine

The living tree doctrine is a Canadian approach to constitutional interpretation that treats the constitution as an organic document capable of growing to fit changing social conditions rather than being fixed to the understanding its framers held at the time of drafting. It comes from the 1929 Persons Case, Edwards v Canada (Attorney General), in which Lord Sankey wrote that the British North America Act planted in Canada a living tree capable of growth and expansion within its natural limits. Under the doctrine courts ask how a provision applies to present circumstances rather than only what its drafters intended, though the natural-limits language keeps that growth bounded; the Marcotte line of cases held, for example, that a historical power over bills of exchange could not be stretched to cover credit card transactions. The doctrine now underlies how Canadian courts read both the Constitution Act and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.