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This is a comprehensive list of cases originating in Canada decided by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, in Britain.

From 1867 to 1949, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council was the highest court of appeal for Canada (and, separately, for Newfoundland, which did not join Canada as a province until 1949). During this period, its decisions on Canadian appeals were binding precedent on all Canadian courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Any decisions from this era that the Supreme Court of Canada has not overruled since gaining appellate supremacy in 1949 remain good law, and continue to bind all Canadian courts other than the Supreme Court. As Canada's ultimate judicial authority for most of its first century as a country following Confederation, the Judicial Committee had a considerable influence on the development of Canadian law, particularly constitutional law, where the living tree doctrine first laid down in Edwards v Canada (AG) remains a defining feature of Canadian constitutional interpretation.

The Parliament of Canada abolished appeals to the Judicial Committee of criminal cases in 1933 and civil cases in 1949. Ongoing cases that had begun before those dates remained appealable to the Judicial Committee. The final Judicial Committee ruling on a Canadian case was rendered in 1959, in Ponoka-Calmar Oils v Wakefield, an appeal from the Supreme Court.

1867–1869

List of cases

For a detailed list of all cases during this period, please see: List of Canadian appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, 1867–1869.

Summary by year and result

Summary by province

1870–1879

List of cases

For a detailed list of all cases during this period, please see: List of Canadian appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, 1870–1879.

Summary by year and result

Summary by province and court appealed from

1880–1889

List of cases

For a detailed list of all cases during this period, please see: List of Canadian appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, 1880–1889.

Summary by year and result

Summary by jurisdiction and court appealed from

1. There was one case from the North-West Territories which went on appeal to the Manitoba Queen's Bench, since there was no appellate court in the North-West Territories as that time. The Judicial Committee dismissed an application for leave to appeal from the Manitoba Queen's Bench: Riel v Her Majesty the Queen, UKPC 37.

1890–1899

List of cases

For a detailed list of all cases during this period, please see: List of Canadian appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, 1890–1899.

Summary by year and result

Summary by jurisdiction and court appealed from

1900–1909

List of cases

For a detailed list of all cases during this period, please see: List of Canadian appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, 1900–1909.

Summary by year and result

Summary by jurisdiction and court appealed from

1910–1919

List of cases

For a detailed list of all cases during this period, please see: List of Canadian appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, 1910–1919.

Summary by year and result

1. In one reference decision in this year, the Judicial Committee simply answered the questions without allowing or dismissing the appeal: Attorney General for Ontario and others v Attorney General for Canada and others, UKPC 13.

Summary by jurisdiction and court appealed from

1920–1929

List of cases

For a detailed list of all cases during this period, please see: List of Canadian appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, 1920–1929.

Summary by year and result

1. In one case in this year, the parties settled the case before the Judicial Committee rendered a decision: Foley Brothers and others v. James A McIlwee and others, UKPC 18. The case is not included in the statistics.
2. One case this year was a direct reference by the British government, on the joint request of the governments of Canada and Newfoundland: In the Matter of the Boundary between the Dominion of Canada and the Colony of Newfoundland in the Labrador Peninsula, UKPC 25. Since it was not an appeal, it is not included in the statistics for appeals allowed and dismissed.

Summary by jurisdiction and court appealed from

1. One case was a direct reference by the British government, on the joint request of the governments of Canada and Newfoundland: In the Matter of the Boundary between the Dominion of Canada and the Colony of Newfoundland in the Labrador Peninsula, UKPC 25. It is not included in the totals of appeals from the Supreme Court or other courts.

1930–1939

List of cases

For a detailed list of all cases during this period, please see: List of Canadian appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, 1930–1939.

Summary by year and result

Summary by jurisdiction and court appealed from

1940–1949

List of cases

For a detailed list of all cases during this period, please see: List of Canadian appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, 1940–1949.

Summary by year and result

Summary by jurisdiction and court appealed from

1950–1959

List of cases

For a detailed list of all cases during this period, please see: List of Canadian appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, 1950–1959.

Summary by year and result

Summary by jurisdiction and court appealed from

See also

• List of Supreme Court of Canada cases
• List of House of Lords cases

References

1. Debra Parks, Precedent Unbound? Contemporary Approaches to Precedent in Canada (Vancouver: UBC Allard Faculty Publications, 2007), p.3, at
2. James G. Snell and Frederick Vaughan, The Supreme Court of Canada: History of the Institution (Toronto: Osgoode Society, 1985), pp. 4–9, 42.
3. Catharine MacMillan, "Canadian Cases before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council", at Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Case papers, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London, last updated February 17, 2021.
4. Criminal Code Amendment Act S.C. 1932–33, c. 53, s. 17
5. Supreme Court Amendment Act, S.C. 1949 (2nd. session), c. 37, s. 3
6. Bora Laskin, The Hamlyn Lectures, Twenty-First Series: The British Tradition in Canadian Law (London: Stevens & Sons, 1969), pp. 1–3, at

Sources

• British and Irish Legal Information Institute: Privy Council Decisions

External links

• British and Irish Legal Information Institute

• Judicial Committee of the Privy Council cases on appeal from Canada
• Canadian case law lists
• Lists of Judicial Committee of the Privy Council cases