stare decisis

Binding or Not? The SCC to Comment on Horizontal Stare Decisis in Appeal of R v Coban

The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) has granted leave [40223] for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (“CBC”) et al to appeal R v Coban, 2022 BCSC 880 [Coban].

A New Correctness Category: The SCC Departs from Vavilov in SOCAN

The first installment of this post addressed the statutory interpretation question in Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada v Entertainment Software Association, 2022 SCC 30 [SOCAN]. The entire court was in agreement on the issue, and this was unsurprising given the Copyright Board of Canada's (the "Board") blatant departure from the well-settled […]

Balancing the Budget with EI Premiums? Stare Decisis and Canada v Confédération des syndicats nationaux

In Canada (Attorney General) v Confédération des syndicats nationaux, 2014 SCC 49, the Supreme Court applied principles of stare decisis to dismiss the actions of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (“the unions”) as being “bound to fail” given the Court’s judgment in a previous similar case. In contrast, the unions argued that provisions of the […]

Live from the SCC: Carter v Canada

Early on a rainy morning, I arrived to the Supreme Court of Canada and was lucky enough to be able to watch the Carter v Canada (Attorney General) [Carter] appeal. In this case, several plaintiffs challenged the Criminal Code provisions prohibiting physician assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia under sections 7 and 15 of the Charter. […]

Too Much Water in the Garden? Vertical Stare Decisis in Bedford v Canada

Trial Decision Bedford v Canada, 2010 ONSC 4264, was a constitutional challenge to several Criminal Code provisions prohibiting operation of brothels, criminalizing persons who live on the avails of prostitution, and prohibiting public communication for the purpose of engaging in prostitution [s. 210, 212(1)(j) and 213(1)(c) of the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46]. Himel J. found that the impugned […]