Living document
In Canadian law, this concept is called the "living tree doctrine" (French: théorie de l'arbre vivant).The 1929 case Edwards v. Canada (Attorney General), which decided upon the right of women to sit in the Canadian Senate, was the first to establish this principle.The case was decided by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, whereupon Viscount Sankey wrote of the ruling: The British North America Act planted in Canada a living tree capable of growth and expansion within its natural limits.Like all written constitutions it has been subject to development through usage and convention... Their Lordships do not conceive it to be the duty of this Board—it is certainly not their desire—to cut down the provisions of the Act by a narrow and technical construction, but rather to give it a large and liberal interpretation so that the Dominion to a great extent, but within certain fixed limits, may be mistress in her own house, as the provinces to a great extent, but within certain fixed limits, are mistresses in theirs.In the modern context, a living document comprises information that may be utilized to start a new event, be self-executing, and participate in a more broader automation procedure.