Editing Supreme Court of Canada (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of the Supreme Court of Canada}}
[[File:Interior of the old Supreme Court of Canada.jpg|thumb|left|Courtroom inside the [[Second Supreme Court of Canada building]] in April 1890]]

The creation of the Supreme Court of Canada was provided for by the ''[[British North America Act, 1867]]'', renamed in 1982 the ''[[Constitution Act, 1867]]''. The first bills for the creation of a federal supreme court, introduced in the [[Parliament of Canada]] in 1869 and in 1870, were withdrawn. It was not until 8 April 1875 that a bill was finally passed providing for the creation of a Supreme Court of Canada.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hulmes |first=F. |date=1986 |title=The Supreme Court of Canada: History of the Institution |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/3227510 |journal=Canadian Journal of Political Science |volume=19 |issue=2 |jstor=3227510|access-date=27 June 2021 |archive-date=1 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210701071958/https://www.jstor.org/stable/3227510 |url-status=live }}</ref>

However, prior to 1949, the Supreme Court did not constitute the [[court of last resort]]: litigants could appeal SCC decisions to the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]] in London. Some cases could bypass the Supreme Court and go directly to the Judicial Committee from the provincial courts of appeal. The Supreme Court formally became the court of last resort for criminal appeals in 1933 and for all other appeals in 1949. Cases that were begun prior to those dates remained appealable to the Judicial Committee, and the last case on appeal from the Supreme Court of Canada was not decided until 1959.<ref>Ponoka-Calmar Oils Ltd. and another v Earl F. Wakefield Co. And others [1959] UKPC 20, [1960] AC 18 (7 October 1959), P.C. (on appeal from Canada)</ref>

The increase in the importance of the Supreme Court was mirrored by the numbers of its members; it was established first with six judges, and these were augmented by an additional member in 1927. In 1949, the bench reached its current composition of nine justices.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Canada |first=Supreme Court of |date=2001-01-01 |title=Supreme Court of Canada - Creation and Beginnings of the Court |url=https://www.scc-csc.ca/court-cour/creation-eng.aspx |access-date=2024-06-23 |website=www.scc-csc.ca}}</ref>

Prior to 1949, most of the appointees to the court owed their position to political [[patronage]]. Each judge had strong ties to the party in power at the time of their appointment. In 1973, the appointment of a constitutional law professor [[Bora Laskin]] as chief justice represented a major turning point for the court. Laskin's [[Federalism in Canada|federalist]] and liberal views were shared by [[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]] [[Pierre Trudeau]], who recommended Laskin's appointment to the court, but from that appointment onward appointees increasingly either came from academic backgrounds or were well-respected practitioners with several years' experience in appellate courts.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

The ''[[Constitution Act, 1982]]'', greatly expanded the role of the court in Canadian society by the addition of the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'', which greatly broadened the scope of judicial review. The evolution from the court under Chief Justice [[Brian Dickson]] (1984–1990) through to that of [[Antonio Lamer]] (1990–2000) witnessed a continuing vigour in the protection of civil liberties. Lamer's criminal law background proved an influence on the number of criminal cases heard by the Court during his time as chief justice. Nonetheless, the Lamer court was more conservative with ''Charter'' rights, with only about a 1% success rate for ''Charter'' claimants.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

Lamer was succeeded as the chief justice by [[Beverley McLachlin]] in January 2000. She was the first woman to hold that position.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, P.C., C.C. |date=January 2001 |url=https://www.scc-csc.ca/judges-juges/bio-eng.aspx?id=beverley-mclachlin |publisher=Supreme Court of Canada |location=Ottawa, Ontario |access-date=18 November 2018 |archive-date=22 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722214153/https://scc-csc.ca/judges-juges/bio-eng.aspx?id=beverley-mclachlin |url-status=live }}</ref> McLachlin's appointment resulted in a more centrist and unified court. Dissenting and concurring opinions were fewer than during the Dickson and Lamer courts. With the 2005 appointments of puisne justices [[Louise Charron]] and [[Rosalie Abella]], the court became the world's most gender-balanced national high court with four of its nine members being female.<ref>{{cite news |title=New judges fill gaps in spectrum |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/new-judges-fill-gaps-in-spectrum/article25680054/ |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |date=5 October 2004 |access-date=6 May 2016 |archive-date=29 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629112500/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/new-judges-fill-gaps-in-spectrum/article25680054/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Two women named to Canada's supreme court |url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2004/10/04/Two-women-named-to-Canadas-supreme-court/30531096911205/" |work=UPI |date=4 October 2004 |access-date=6 May 2016}}</ref> Justice [[Marie Deschamps]]' retirement on 7 August 2012 caused the number to fall to three;<ref name=deschamps>{{cite news |title=Supreme Court loses third veteran judge in a year with Justice Marie Deschamps' departure |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/05/18/supreme_court_loses_third_veteran_judge_in_a_year_with_justice_marie_deschamps_departure.html |work=[[Toronto Star]] |date=18 May 2012 |access-date=27 May 2014 |archive-date=23 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623135400/http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1180564--supreme-court-loses-third-veteran-judge-in-a-year-with-justice-marie-deschamps-departure |url-status=live }}</ref> however, the appointment of [[Suzanne Côté]] on 1 December 2014 restored the number to four. The appointment of [[Mary Moreau|Mary T. Moreau]] on 6 November 2023 created the first female-majority in the history of the Court.<ref>{{cite web| title=The Honourable Mary T. Moreau| date= November 6, 2023| url=https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/news/en/item/7807/index.do| publisher=Supreme Court of Canada| location=Ottawa, Ontario| access-date=November 10, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Justice Mary Moreau officially welcomed as the Supreme Court's newest member|date=February 19, 2024|access-date=April 25, 2025|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mary-moreau-joins-supreme-court-1.7119387|publisher=[[CBC News]]}}</ref>  After serving on the court for {{ayd|1989|3|30|2017|12|14}} ({{ayd|2000|1|7|2017|12|14}} as chief justice), McLachlin retired in December 2017. Her successor as the chief justice is [[Richard Wagner (judge)|Richard Wagner]].

Along with the [[Federal Constitutional Court|German Federal Constitutional Court]] and the [[European Court of Human Rights]], the Supreme Court of Canada is among the most frequently cited courts in the world.<ref name="Hirschl1">{{citation|author1-first=Ran|author1-last=Hirschl|chapter=The View from the Bench: Where the Comparative Judicial Imagination Travels|title=Comparative Matters: The Renaissance of Comparative Constitutional Law|publication-place=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=August 2014|isbn=978-0-19-871451-4|chapter-url=https://academic.oup.com/book/8033/chapter-abstract/153409435|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198714514.003.0002|pages=20–76|access-date=2022-09-06|language=en|quote=Accordingly, the Supreme Court of Canada, the German Federal Constitutional Court, and the European Court of Human Rights have emerged as three of the most frequently cited courts in the world.}}</ref>{{rp|pages=21, 27–28}}