In August 1985, the Law Reform Commission of Canada released a working paper entitled "The Legal Status of the Federal Administration." The working paper calls for a re-examination of the concept of the federal Crown in Canadian law. In this article, Professor Cohen undertakes a critical examination of the focus and methodology of the Commission's work. Professor Cohen commends the Commission for its excursion into the field of law reform and the state, but points out that this working paper represents an incomplete and flawed treatment of the subject. In light of this, Professor Cohen proceeds to describe and evaluate what in his view are the more significant ideas involved in the study of law reform and the state.
David Cohen, Thinking About the State: Law Reform and the Crown in Canada, 24 Osgoode Hall L.J. 379 (1986), http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/lawfaculty/426/.