When Human Rights Compete

The Muslim barber at the barber shop, whose deeply held religious beliefs forbid him from touching a non-relative woman, or the woman refused a haircut and made to feel like a second-class citizen; the teenage victim of cyber-bullying who wants to commence a civil action against her tormenter anonymously or the media who jealously and rightly protect the openness of our courts; the gay and lesbian Saskatchewanians, who have a fundamental right to be free from discrimination, or the two men accused of sexual assault and fighting for their liberty or the alleged victim, a Muslim, whose faith requires her to veil her face, even in court. These are some of the problems of "competing rights" that have vexed our courts and statutory human rights agencies in the past year. Published in the August 2013 edition of JustMag.ca.