The fundamental freedom of education in the legal relations between the state and day schools in Ontario

In this thesis I develop an articulation of what I have called the fundamental freedom of education, and provide evidence of this legal principle in relationship to Ontario education law. In order to show how the principle functions, and how evidence of it may be recognized, the sociological theory of Dooyeweerd with respect to the idea of state is adapted to the school. The legal theory of Van Eikema Hommes is used to elaborate on the fundamental freedoms as constitutive legal principles of state law, and on the external legal relation between state and school. Attention is paid to the underlying methodologies of these theories and to the resulting legal pluralism. An explanation of the continuing juridification of state schools is offered, and the fundamental freedom of education is suggested as an internal limit upon the juridical sovereignty of the state in the area of formal education.; This thesis questions whether the modern day school system may be considered a part of the state, and develops theory to provide an alternative answer, in which the school is considered a social sphere in its own right with implications for the legal relations between school and state.