Lists of landmark court decisions

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Landmark court decisions, in present-day

legal principle or concept, or otherwise substantially affect the interpretation of existing law. "Leading case" is commonly used in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth jurisdictions instead of "landmark case", as used in the United States.[1][2]

In Commonwealth countries, a reported decision is said to be a leading decision when it has come to be generally regarded as settling the law of the question involved. In 1914, Canadian jurist Augustus Henry Frazer Lefroy said "a 'leading case' [is] one that settles the law upon some important point".[3]

A leading decision may settle the law in more than one way. It may do so by:

Landmark decisions in Australia

Decisions in leading cases in Australia have usually been made by the High Court of Australia, although historically some have been made by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.

  • Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co. Ltd.
    (Engineers' Case) (1920): Rejected the doctrines of implied intergovernmental immunities and reserved State powers and determined that each head of federal power should be interpreted simply on the words of the grant.
  • Re Judiciary and Navigation Acts (1921): dealt with what is a matter for the court and what the court can hear.
  • In 1948, the High Court of Australia found that the Chifley government's legislation to nationalise Australia's private banks was unconstitutional.
  • In 1951, the High Court of Australia found that Robert Menzies' attempts to ban the Communist Party of Australia were unconstitutional.
  • In Commonwealth v Tasmania (Tasmanian Dams Case), the High Court held that the Commonwealth was able to invoke its external affairs power to give effect to Australia's obligations under international law, including to prevent the construction of the Franklin Dam in a World Heritage Zone.
  • In
    Eddie Mabo & Ors v The State of Queensland (No.2) invalidated the declaration of terra nullius.[5]
  • Dietrich v The Queen, it was found that Australians accused of serious offences have a limited right to legal representation in order to guarantee a fair trial.
  • In
    Malaysian Solution
    Case)
    the High Court held that refugees could not be deported to countries that did not meet certain human rights protection standards.
  • In
    Commonwealth v the ACT
    (Same-Sex Marriage Case) the High Court held that only the Commonwealth had the necessary legislative head of power to reform marriage laws to encompass same-sex marriage.
  • In
    National School Chaplaincy Programme
    .
  • In
    15 members of the 45th Parliament
    were either ruled ineligible to serve, or resigned on the basis of holding foreign citizenship.

Landmark decisions in Canada

There is no universally agreed-to list of "leading decisions" in Canada.

One indication, however, as to whether a case is widely regarded as being "leading" is its inclusion of the ruling in one or more of the series of compilations prepared over the years by various authors. One of the earlier examples is Augustus Henry Frazer Lefroy's Leading Cases in Canadian Constitutional Law, published in 1914. More recently, Peter H. Russell and a changing list of collaborators have published a series of books, including:

Decisions in leading cases in Canada have usually been made by the Supreme Court of Canada. Prior to the abolition of appeals of Supreme Court decisions in the 1940s, most landmark decisions were made by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.

Decision Court Date & citation Subject matter Principle or rule established by the court's decision Full text
Robertson and Rosetanni v R Supreme Court [1963] SCR 651 Canadian Bill of Rights Establishes that the Bill of Rights is not concerned with rights in any abstract sense, but rather with the more modest objective of prohibiting restrictions on rights as they existed in Canada at the time the Bill of Rights was enacted. [2]
Reference Re Anti-Inflation Act Supreme Court [1976] 2 SCR 373 Use of extraneous material in court decisions. Established that it is acceptable for Canadian courts to examine historical material in addition to the text of the relevant statute. [3]
Patriation Reference Supreme Court [1981] 1 SCR 753 Constitutional conventions Establishes that constitutional conventions are not legally binding. [4]
Quebec (AG) v Blaikie (No 1) Supreme Court [1979] 2 SCR 1016 Status of English and French in Quebec legislation. Established that all laws and regulations of the province of Quebec, as well as all courts and tribunals, must treat French and English with absolute equality. [5]
R v Sparrow Supreme Court [1990] 1 SCR 1075 Constitution Act, 1982,
section 35(1)
(Aboriginal rights)
Establishes that aboriginal rights that pre-exist the Constitution Act, 1982 cannot be infringed without justification. [6].
Delgamuukw v British Columbia Supreme Court [1997] 3 SCR 1010 Constitution Act, 1982,
section 35(1)
(Aboriginal rights)
[7]
R v Marshall Supreme Court [1999] 3 SCR 456 Constitution Act, 1982,
section 35(1)
(Aboriginal rights)
Establishes that aboriginal treaty rights are subject to Canadian law, but not to provincial licensing systems. R v Marshall (No 1)R v Marshall (No 2)
Tsilhqot'in Nation v British Columbia
Supreme Court 2014 SCC 44 Constitution Act, 1982,
section 35(1)
(Aboriginal rights)
Established land title for the Tsilhqot'in First Nation. [8]
Reference Re BC Motor Vehicle Act Supreme Court [1985] 2 SCR 486 Charter of Rights,
section 7
(Legal rights)
Establishes that laws which impose prison sentences for "
section 7
of the Charter.
[9]
R v Morgentaler Supreme Court [1988] 1 SCR 30 Charter of Rights,
section 7 (Legal rights), abortion
The abortion provision in the
section 7
of the Charter to "security of the person".
[10]
Gosselin v Quebec (AG) Supreme Court 2002 SCC 84 Charter of Rights,
section 7
(Legal rights)
Establishes that section 7 does not mandate positive rights to welfare benefits, but that "a positive obligation to sustain life, liberty or security of the person may be made out" under different circumstances than those of the instant case. [11]
Andrews v Law Society of British Columbia Supreme Court [1989] 1 SCR 143 Charter of Rights,
section 15
(Equality rights)
Establishes the "Andrews test" for determining whether Charter-protected equality rights have been violated. [12]
Hunter v Southam Inc Supreme Court [1984] 2 SCR 145 Charter of Rights,
section 8
(Legal rights)
Establishes that the Charter ought to be interpreted
purposively
.
[13]
R v Feeney Supreme Court [1997] 2 SCR 13 Constitution Act, 1982,
section 8
(Procedural rights)
Establishes that the police cannot enter a home without a search warrant. [14]
Egan v Canada Supreme Court [1995] 2 SCR 513 Charter of Rights,
section 15(1)
(Equality rights)
Establishes that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is prohibited under
section 15(1)
.
[15]
Law v Canada (Minister of Employment and Immigration) Supreme Court [1999] 1 SCR 497 Charter of Rights,
section 15(1)
(Equality rights)
Establishes the "Law test" for identifying Charter-prohibited discrimination. [16]
Canada (AG) v Hislop Supreme Court 2007 SCC 10 Charter of Rights,
section 15
(Equality rights)
Establishes that Charter-mandated rights come into existence, for purposes of applicability, only from the moment that their existence is determined by the court. Charter rights are not "discovered" in the sense proposed by Blackstone, and therefore are not retroactive. [17]
Ford v Quebec (AG) Supreme Court [1988] 2 SCR 712 Charter of Rights,
section 2(b)
(Freedom of expression)
[18]
Irwin Toy Ltd v Quebec (AG) Supreme Court [1989] 1 SCR 927 Charter of Rights,
section 2(b)
(Freedom of expression)
[19]
R v Zundel Supreme Court [1992] 2 SCR 731 Charter of Rights,
section 2(b)
(Freedom of expression)
[20]
R v Sharpe Supreme Court 2001 SCC 2 Charter of Rights,
section 2(b)
(Freedom of expression)
[21]
Mahe v Alberta Supreme Court [1990] 1 SCR 342 Charter of Rights,
section 23
(Minority-language education rights)
Establishes that
section 23
of the Charter is intended to be remedial, and therefore should be given a large and liberal interpretation.
[22]
R v Oakes Supreme Court [1986] 1 SCR 103 Charter of Rights,
section 1
(limits on rights protected elsewhere in the Charter)
Establishes the "
section 1
of the Charter.
[23]
Meiorin Supreme Court [1999] 3 SCR 3 Charter of Rights,
section 15(1)
(Equality rights)
Establishes the "
Meiorin test
" to be used in applying human rights legislation.
[24].
Auton (Guardian ad litem of) v British Columbia (AG) Supreme Court 2004 SCC 78 Charter of Rights,
section 15
(Equality rights)
Establishes that
section 15 of the Charter does not create a positive right
to receive government services.
[25]

Landmark decisions in India

The Supreme Court of India, which is the highest judicial body in India, has decided many leading cases of Constitutional jurisprudence, establishing Constitution Benches for hearing the same. Given below are a list of some leading cases:

  1. S.P. Gupta v. Union of India & Anr. (Transfer Case (civil) 19 of 1981; 1982 2 SCR 365)
  2. Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association & Anr. v. Union of India (W.P. (C) 1303 of 1987)
  3. In re Special reference 1 of 1998
  • Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors. (W.P. (C) 494 of 2012), wherein the Court held that Right to Privacy was a fundamental right under the Constitution of India
    .

Landmark decisions in Italy

The criminal case against the operator of the Italian

fake review business PromoSalento in 2018 has been described as a "landmark ruling".[6][7]

Landmark decisions in New Zealand

Decisions in leading cases in New Zealand were made by the Court of Appeal of New Zealand before the establishment of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, although historically some have been made by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.

Landmark decisions in the United Kingdom

Decisions in leading cases in the

High Court of Justice of England and Wales
.

Landmark decisions in the United States

Landmark cases in the United States come most frequently (but not exclusively) from the

United States Courts of Appeals may also make such decisions, particularly if the Supreme Court chooses not to review the case, or adopts the holding of the court below. Although many cases from state supreme courts
are significant in developing the law of that state, only a few are so revolutionary that they announce standards that many other state courts then choose to follow.

International courts

See also

References

  1. ^ Meaning of leading case in the English Dictionary.
  2. ^ A. W. B. Simpson, Leading Cases in the Common Law, Clarendon Press, 1996 [1].
  3. ^ Augustus Henry Frazer Lefroy, Leading Cases in Canadian Constitutional Law. Toronto: Carswell, 1914, p. v.
  4. ^ Michael Pal and Sujit Choudry, "Is Every Ballot Equal? Visible Minority Vote Dilution in Canada", IRPP Choices vol. 13, no. 1 (January 2007), p. 14.
  5. ^ Mabo v Queensland (1989) 166 CLR 186 AustLill.
  6. ^ Davies, G., Addressing ‘review fraud’ in the online retail marketplace, Juriosity, published 14 November 2018, accessed 20 November 2023
  7. , published 11 September 2018, accessed 20 November 2023

External links