摘要：The 2004 year saw a number of important developments in Charter and Aboriginal rights jurisprudence. Yet 2004 was also a year of significant change for the Court, with Justices Iacobucci and Arbour, both of whom had emerged as key figures on the Court in recent years, retiring in June 2004. Indeed, a core group of Chief Justice McLachlin and Justices Iacobucci, Arbour and Fish were key to the majorities in a number of contested 5-4 decisions in early 2004. With Justices Abella and Charron joining the Court in late 2004, four of nine justices have been members for three years or less and, barring unexpected early retirements, the relatively youthful Court is entering a period where we can expect stability in its membership. It will, therefore, be important in 2005 and beyond to assess whether the recently reconstituted Supreme Court attempts to shift the Court’s constitutional analysis in new or different directions.
