Search for ""

In 1977, J.H. Miller and V.J.R. Cockriell, charged with the murder of a policeman, argued the incompatibility of the penalty imposed by law with the Canadian Bill of Rights 1960.

Pierre-Guillaume Sayer and three other Métis in the Red River Colony were brought to trial on 17 May 1849 in the General Quarterly Court of Assiniboia on charges of violating the Hudson's Bay Company's charter by illegally trafficking in furs.

The 1992 killing of nine underground miners in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, was one of Canada's worst mass murders.

Senator ​Mike Duffy was charged with crimes following a public scandal over his expense claims. In April 2016, after a high profile trial, he was cleared of all charges.

The Delgamuukw case (1997) (also known as Delgamuukw v. British Columbia) concerned the definition, the content and the extent of Aboriginal title (i.e., ownership of traditional lands). The Supreme Court of Canada observed that Aboriginal title constituted an ancestral right protected by section 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982. Influenced by the Calder case (1973), the ruling in the Delgamuukw case had an impact on other court cases about Aboriginal rights and title, including in the Tsilhqot’in case (2014).

Mi’kmaq Grand Chief Gabriel Sylliboy is believed to be the first to use the 1752 Peace and Friendship Treaty to fight for Canada’s recognition of treaty rights. In his court case, R. v. Sylliboy (1928), he argued that the 1752 treaty protected his rights to hunt and fish, but he lost the case and was subsequently convicted. In 1985, when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in R. v. Simon — another case concerning Mi’kmaq hunting rights — it found that the 1752 treaty did in fact give Mi’kmaq people the right to hunt on traditional territories. This judgment vindicated both Sylliboy and James Simon of the 1985 case. In 2017, almost 90 years after his conviction, Sylliboy received a posthumous pardon and apology from the Government of Nova Scotia.

The 1895 Valentine Shortis murder trial was a landmark case in Canadian judicial history. It revealed inadequacies in the legal definitions of criminal responsibility and insanity, and because of political implications, reached into the highest offices of government.

Thomas Sophonow was tried three times for the same crime, before finally being exonerated.

Romeo Phillion was the longest-serving prisoner in Canadian history to have a murder conviction overturned.

The duty to consult is a statutory, contractual and common law obligation that must be fulfilled by the Crown prior to taking actions or making decisions that may have consequences for the rights of Indigenous peoples in Canada. The duty to consult has been affirmed and clarified by various Supreme Court of Canada rulings, such the Haida case (2004) and the Beckman v. Little Salmon/Carmacks case (2010). The duty to consult is considered by many to be an important step toward reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

For much of its history, the Canadian military had a policy of punishing or purging LGBTQ members among their ranks. During the Cold War, the military increased its efforts to identify and remove suspected LGBTQ servicemen and women due to expressed concerns about blackmail and national security. In 1992, a court challenge led to the reversal of these discriminatory practices. The federal government officially apologized in 2017.