The Supreme Court of Canada’s caseload has increased this year, prompting discussion about whether the Court is entering a more active phase after several years of hearing comparatively fewer appeals.
In a recent CBA National magazine article, Eugene Meehan, K.C., suggests that the data points to a meaningful shift rather than a temporary fluctuation. He notes that the Court’s leave-granted rate has climbed to 16.8% this year—roughly two-and-a-half times higher than in the previous two years—accompanied by an increase in scheduled hearings. Together, these developments suggest a renewed willingness by the Court to hear a broader range of appeals, signaling an important change for litigants and the Canadian legal community.
Meehan also explains why this matters to practitioners: “From a practitioner’s perspective, the grant rate increase is also meaningful, as lawyers in every specialty have areas they believe warrant ‘supreme’ guidance to bring more juridical certainty and reduce unnecessary litigation in contentious areas.” He also added, “We all want our Supreme Court to be the Swiss Army knife for every area of law in Canada… And the Court is clearly increasingly doing that more, everything from A to Z—from agriculture to zoning.”
Read the full article here.