What does 'Proportionate Effect' in the Oakes Test refer to?

'Proportionate Effect' in the Oakes Test refers to the balance between the law's impact and its objective. This principle is crucial in constitutional law as it assesses whether a law that infringes upon a Charter right is justified under section 1 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In applying the Oakes Test, the courts must determine if the means used by the law to achieve its objective are proportional to the infringement of rights it causes. This involves analyzing whether the importance of the government’s objective is sufficiently compelling to justify the means chosen to achieve it, and whether there is a reasonable fit between the law’s effects and its intended purpose. Thus, a law that causes significant harm to individual rights must have a substantial justification for doing so, ensuring that any infringement is not excessive relative to the goal it seeks to achieve.

In contrast, the popularity of the law among citizens, the duration of the law's enforcement, and the difficulty of compliance do not directly relate to the viability or justification of a law in the context of the Oakes Test. Therefore, these factors are not relevant to the concept of 'Proportionate Effect'.