Little Sisters Book and Art Emporium v Canada

Edit links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Little Sisters Book and Art Emporium v Canada (Minister of Justice)
Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
Hearing: March 16, 2000
Judgment: December 15, 2000
Full case nameLittle Sisters Book and Art Emporium,

B.C. Civil Liberties Association,

James Eaton Deva and Guy Allen Bruce Smythe v The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, the Minister of National Revenue and the Attorney General of British Columbia
Citations[2000] 2 S.C.R. 1120, 2000 SCC 69 (CanLII)
Parallel citations: (2000), 193 D.L.R. (4th) 193; (2000), [2001] 2 W.W.R. 1; (2000), 150 C.C.C. (3d) 1; (2000), 28 Admin. L.R. (3d) 1; (2000), 28 Admin. L.R. (3e) 1; (2000), 38 C.R. (5th) 209; (2000), 79 C.R.R. (2d) 189; (2000), 83 B.C.L.R. (3d) 1
Prior historyJudgment for the Minister of Justice at the British Columbia Court of Appeal
Court membership
Reasons given
MajorityBinnie J. (paras. 1-161), joined by McLachlin C.J. and L'Heureux-Dubé, Gonthier, Major, and Bastarache JJ.
Concur/dissentIacobucci J. (paras. 162-283), joined by Arbour and LeBel J.

Little Sisters Book and Art Emporium v Canada (Minister of Justice) [2000] 2 S.C.R. 1120, 2000 SCC 69 is a leading

section 1.[1]

Background

Canada Customs
and was thus refused entry. The bookstore challenged the provision of the Customs Act prohibiting the importation of obscene material as well as a section of the Act that put the onus on the importer to disprove obscenity.

The courts below

At trial, the court found that the customs has targeted shipments to the bookstore and attempted to prevent their entry into Canada. Consequently, the government was found to have violated section 2 of the Charter. However, the violation was justified under section 1.[2]

Judgment of the Supreme Court

In a 6–3 decision, the Supreme Court upheld the ruling of the trial judge and found that though the law violated section 2, it was justified under section 1.[3] The law was thus saved. However, they found that the way the law was implemented by customs officials was discriminatory and should be remedied, an opinion they suggested would avail the bookstore in any further legal battles. They also struck down part of the law that put the onus on an importer to prove material was not obscene. The ruling, therefore, upheld Canada Customs' right to prevent the importation of material that had already been banned as obscene by the courts, but curtailed the agency's right to preemptively or punitively detain material that had not been so adjudicated.

See also

Further reading

  • Kendall, Christopher N. (2004).
    ISBN 9780774851152
    .

References

  1. ^ Supreme Court of Canada (January 2001). "Little Sisters Book and Art Emporium v Canada". paragraphs 154 and 160. Retrieved 17 September 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  2. ^ "Little Sisters Book and Art Emporium v Canada". paragraph 25: Supreme Court of Canada. January 2001. Retrieved 17 September 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  3. ^ "Little Sisters Book and Art Emporium v Canada". paragraph 160: Supreme Court of Canada. January 2001. Retrieved 17 September 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Little_Sisters_Book_and_Art_Emporium_v_Canada&oldid=1184396789"