A Canadian court judge has rejected a claim that the Canadian Charter of Rights invalidates the British Act of Settlement’s requirement that restricts succession to the Throne to Protestants.
A Ontario Superior Court judge suggested that ruling in favour of the claim made by Tony O’Donohue, a Catholic of Irish descent, might lead to civil wars over who should be head of state or result in different heads of state for Britain and Canada. At present the British Windsor family has sole right to determine who should be head of state for both countries.
The Act of Settlement of 1701 says that “All and every person …
[who] shall hold communion with the see or Church of Rome, or
should profess the popish religion, or marry a papist, should be
excluded, and are by that Act made for ever incapable to inherit,
possess or enjoy the Crown and government of this realm.”
Mr. O’Donohue said the British law was offensive and incompatible with
Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He is to appeal the ruling.