In legal philosophy,
living document can take on a different meaning, e.g., when applied to
living constitution, referring to the philosophy of updating the legal of the document as an activity separate from the amending, changing or updating of the document itself.
Canada In Canadian law, this concept is called the "
living tree doctrine" (French: ''théorie de l'arbre vivant
). The 1929 case Edwards v. Canada (Attorney General)'', which decided upon the right of women to sit in the Canadian Senate, was the first to establish this principle. The case was decided by the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, whereupon
Viscount Sankey wrote of the ruling: The British North America Act planted in Canada a living tree capable of growth and expansion within its natural limits. The object of the Act was to grant a Constitution to Canada. Like all written constitutions it has been subject to development through usage and convention... Their Lordships do not conceive it to be the duty of this Board—it is certainly not their desire—to cut down the provisions of the Act by a narrow and technical construction, but rather to give it a large and liberal interpretation so that the Dominion to a great extent, but within certain fixed limits, may be mistress in her own house, as the provinces to a great extent, but within certain fixed limits, are mistresses in theirs. From this approach was born what became known as the
living tree doctrine which requires "large and liberal" interpretation, declaring a doctrine of constitutional interpretation that says that a constitution is organic and must be read in a broad and progressive manner so as to adapt it to the changing times. The living tree principle was again expressed by the Supreme Court of Canada, in Re: Same-Sex Marriage (2004), when it held that Parliament (as opposed to provincial legislatures) had the power to define marriage as including same-sex unions. It rejected claims that the constitutionally enumerated federal authority in matters of "Marriage and Divorce" could not include same-sex marriage because marriage as conceived in 1867 was necessarily opposite-sex:
United States In United States constitutional law, the
Living Constitution view, also known as loose constructionism, changes the interpretation of the document over time. The opposing view,
originalism, holds that the original intent or meaning of the writers of the Constitution should guide its interpretation. ==In business==