By the Court decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada

Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada have the option of releasing reasons for a unanimous decision anonymously by simply attributing the judgment to "The Court". The practice began around 1979 by Chief Justice Laskin, borrowing from the US Supreme Court practice of anonymizing certain unanimous decisions.[1] Unlike in the US, which uses it primarily for uncontroversial cases, in Canada, it is used almost always for important and controversial cases.[2]

It has been suggested that the practice has been used to give greater authority to the decision by having the entire Court speak as a single voice.[3]

Peter McCormick, a professor of political science at the University of Lethbridge who studies Canada's appellate courts, calls these 'per coram decision," but his terminology is not in general use. McCormick states that there were 9 reported per coram decisions prior to Bora Laskin's term as Chief Justice, 15 reported per coram decisions under Laskin's Chief Justiceship, and 51 reported per coram decisions under Dickson's Chief Justiceship.[4]

List

The following is a list of anonymous decisions that are attributed to "The Court":

Case name Citation Subject
Attorney General of Quebec v. Blaikie (No. 1) [1979] 2 S.C.R. 1016 Minority language rights
Attorney General of Quebec v. Blaikie (No. 2) [1981] 1 S.C.R. 312 Language of delegated legislation
Quebec (Attorney General) v. Quebec Assn. of Protestant School Boards [1984] 2 S.C.R. 66 Minority language education rights
Reference re Manitoba Language Rights [1985] 1 S.C.R. 721 Language rights
R. v. Baig [1987] 2 S.C.R. 537 Right to counsel
Ford v. Quebec (Attorney General) [1988] 2 S.C.R. 712 Commercial freedom of expression
Devine v. Quebec (Attorney General) [1988] 2 S.C.R. 790 Freedom of expression, French language legislation
Tremblay v. Daigle [1989] 2 S.C.R. 530 Abortion
Reference re Milgaard [1992] 1 S.C.R. 866 Wrongful conviction - murder
Reference re Quebec Secession [1998] 2 S.C.R. 217 Secession
Del Zotto v. Canada [1999] 1 S.C.R. 3
Quebec (Deputy Minister of Revenue) v. Nolisair International Inc. (Trustee of); Sécurité Saglac (1992) Inc. (Trustee of) v. Quebec (Deputy Minister of Revenue) [1999] 1 S.C.R. 759
R. v. Marshall [1999] 3 S.C.R. 533 Aboriginal fishing rights
Reference re Firearms Act [2000] 1 S.C.R. 783 Gun control
R. v. Latimer [2001] 1 S.C.R. 3 Cruel and unusual punishment, mercy killings
Smith v. Canada (Attorney General) [2001] 3 S.C.R. 902; 2001 SCC 88
Privacy Act (Can.) (Re) [2001] 3 S.C.R. 905; 2001 SCC 89
R. v. Larivière [2001] 3 S.C.R. 1013; 2001 SCC 93
United States v. Burns [2001] 1 S.C.R. 283 Extradition and execution
Suresh v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2002] 1 S.C.R. 3 Torture
Ahani v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2002] 1 S.C.R. 72, 2002 SCC 2 Torture
R. v. Powley [2003] 2 S.C.R. 207; 2003 SCC 43 Métis hunting rights
R. v. Blais [2003] 2 S.C.R. 236; 2003 SCC 44 Métis hunting rights
Reference re Same-Sex Marriage [2004] 3 S.C.R. 698 Same-sex marriage
R. v. R.G.L. 2005 SCC 18, [2005] 1 S.C.R. 288
Solski (Tutor of) v. Quebec (Attorney General) [2005] 1 S.C.R. 201; 2005 SCC 14
Gosselin (Tutor of) v. Quebec (Attorney General) [2005] 1 S.C.R. 238; 2005 SCC 15
Okwuobi v. Lester B. Pearson School Board [2005] 1 S.C.R. 257; 2005 SCC 16
Provincial Court Judges' Assn. of New Brunswick v. New Brunswick (Minister of Justice); Ontario Judges' Assn. v. Ontario (Management Board); Bodner v. Alberta; Conférence des juges du Québec v. Quebec (Attorney General); Minc v. Quebec (Attorney General) 2005 SCC 44, [2005] 2 S.C.R. 286 Judicial independence
R. v. Rodrigue [2005] 3 S.C.R. 384; 2005 SCC 67
Forum des maires de la Péninsule acadienne v. Canada (Food Inspection Agency) [2005] 3 S.C.R. 906; 2005 SCC 85
R. v. Hazout [2006] 2 S.C.R. 361, 2006 SCC 42
BCE Inc. v. 1976 Debentureholders 2008 SCC 69, [2008] 3 SCR 560 Nature of the duties of corporate directors in Canadian law.
Reference re Securities Act 2011 SCC 66 Constitutionality of a proposed federal securities regulator.
Carter v Canada (AG) 2015 SCC 5 Physician-assisted suicide.

See also

References

  1. ↑ L'Heureux-Dubé, Claire. "The Dissenting Opinion: Voice of the Future?" 38 Osgoode Hall L.J. 495 at 500
  2. ↑ McCormick, Peter. "The Political Jurisprudence of Hot Potatoes" (2002) 13 Nat'l J. Const. L. 271 at 176
  3. ↑ Bzdera, Andre. "Comparative Analysis of Federal High Courts: A Political Theory of Judicial Review" (1993) 26 Canadian Journal of Political Science 3 at 25
  4. ↑ McCormick, Peter. "The Supervisory Role of the Supreme Court of Canada: Analysis of Appeals from Provincial Courts of Appeal, 1949-1990" (1992), 3(2d) Supreme Court Law Review 1, at p. 27.
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