Section One of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is the section of the Charter that allows the government to justify a violation of an individual or group's Charter rights. This is often known as the limitations clause as it allows the government to legally limit an individual's right.

Under the heading of "Guarantee of Rights and Freedoms", the section states:

1. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.

When the government has limited an individual's right there is an onus upon the crown to show, on the balance of probabilities, firstly, that the limitation was prescribed by law namely, that the law is attune to the values of accessibility and intelligibility; and second, that it is justified in a free and democratic society, which means that it must have a justifiable purpose and must be proportional.

Oakes test

The Oakes test, established in R. v. Oakes, is known as the primary test to determine if the purose is sufficiently justified in a free and democratic society . It is a two step process:

1. There must be a pressing and substantial objective
2. The means must be proportional
   1. The means must be rationally connected to the objective
   2. There must be minimal impairment of rights
   3. There must be proportionality between the infringement and objective

The test is heavily founded in factual analysis so strict adherence is not always practiced. A degree of overlap is to be expected as there are some factors, such as vagueness, which are to be considered in multiple sections.

History

In the initial planning stages of the Charter's development this section was intended to be the counter-balance to the court's ability to strike-out law with the Charter. The provinces however, did not find it a sufficiently strong enough recourse and instead insisted on the inclusion of the notwithstanding clause.