Interpretation large et liberale et interpretation contextuelle : convergence ou divergence ?

Statutory interpretation is a fundamental aspect of the practice of law. At lawyers' disposal are many techniques of interpretation. According to the Supreme Court of Canada, human rights charters require an interpretation that is both "large and liberal" and "modern" or contextual. This of course raises the question as to whether the principle of large and liberal construction and the contextual method may be reconciled with one another. In the case-law, these approaches seem at times to converge and at times to diverge. In the following paper, the author illustrates how both the principle of large and liberal interpretation and the contextual method are in fact two components of one and the same approach : purposive interpretation. When viewed in this light, the two processes necessarily lead to convergent results.