Law grad plans appeal after royal succession challenge dismissed

From the "You Can't Make This Stuff Up" Department (Canada)

A Superior Court judge may have told him he doesn’t have standing to challenge the royal succession rules, but a recent law graduate says he’s not giving up his fight against a provision that bars Catholics from ascending to the throne.

Last month, Superior Court Justice Charles Hackland said the court doesn’t have jurisdiction to alter the rules and Bryan Teskey can’t argue the case because, in essence, he can’t become king anyhow.

“He deposes that he is a member of the Catholic faith but that appears to be his only interest in the issues raised in this application. He has no connection to the Royal Family,” wrote Hackland in Teskey v. Canada (Attorney General) last month.

“He raises a purely hypothetical issue which may never occur, namely a Roman Catholic Canadian in line for succession to the throne being passed over because of his or her religion. Should this ever occur, a proper factual matrix would be available to the court to deal with a matter of this importance.”

But for Teskey, who grew up in a “very Catholic” home, the issue is an important one that sets “a dangerous precedent.”

“It says politicians can choose who gets rights. It’s very odd that the government of Canada says Catholics and only Catholics cannot become heads of state,” says Teskey, a recent University of Ottawa law graduate.

More here-

http://www.lawtimesnews.com/201309023425/headline-news/law-grad-plans-appeal-after-royal-succession-challenge-dismissed