The use of non-domestic legal sources in Supreme Court of Canada judgments: Is this the judicial slowbalization of the court?

Klodian Rado

doi:10.36633/ulr.584

The use of non-domestic legal sources in Supreme Court of Canada judgments: Is this the judicial slowbalization of the court?

Utrecht Law Review

Volume 16 (2020): Issue 1

By: Klodian Rado

Open Access

|May 2020

Figures & Tables

Citation of comparative case law by the SCC.

Percentage of SCC decisions citing comparative case law (2000–2016).

Table 1

Data about citation of non-domestic legal sources in dissenting judgments.

Total nr. of Year	SCC Decisions per Year	Caseswith Dissenting	Dissenting Decisions Containing Non-Domestic Legal Sources	Non-Domestic Legal Sources per Year in Dissenting Decisions
2000	69	19	9	41
2001	94	16	5	10
2002	86	22	15	56
2003	75	16	7	18
2004	82	20	9	42
2005	86	22	7	12
2006	59	15	4	18
2007	54	20	11	68
2008	72	17	6	19
2009	62	22	8	28
2010	67	15	8	33
2011	66	13	4	19
2012	75	18	5	11
2013	73	21	7	20
2014	78	13	7	49
2015	69	13	6	8
2016	56	17	9	16
Total	1223	299	127	468
Average	71.9

Table 2

SCC decisions citing judgments of foreign nations.

Year	Total Number of SCC Decisions per Year	Number of SCC Decisions Citing Foreign Judgments Law per Year	Percentage of SCC Decisions Citing Foreign Judgments per Year
2000	69	25	36.2%
2001	94	30	31.9%
2002	86	38	44.1%
2003	75	21	28%
2004	82	24	29.2%
2005	86	19	22%
2006	59	22	37.2%
2007	54	28	51.8%
2008	72	25	34.7%
2009	62	21	33.8%
2010	67	18	26.8%
2011	66	14	21.2%
2012	75	19	25.3%
2013	73	32	43.8%
2014	78	17	21.7%
2015	69	22	31.8%
2016	56	18	32.1%
Total	1223	393
Average	71.9	23.1	32.1%

Foreign nations from which the SCC cites judgments.

Percentage of citation of comparative case law from highest and lower Courts.

Table 3

SCC comparative case-law & the lower courts of other nations.

Lower Courts	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	TOTAL
UK	38	39	56	27	42	20	24	36	34	37	15	22	13	21	22	22	23	491
US	58	33	52	8	34		22	37	15	18	15	29	13	26	28	21	2	411
Australia	2	13	7			1		6	6	2	1	3	1	3	3	5	2	55
N. Zealand			2			1		1		1	2			1				8
Belgium															5		2	7
France						1									3			4
Hong Kong														1	1			2
Ireland	1																	1
Israel								1										1

Table 4

SCC comparative case law & the highest courts of other nations.

HIGHEST COURTS	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	TOTAL
SCOTUS	25	49	34	15	32	7	12	24	19	24	21	14	6	21	13	15	5	336
House of Lords/SCUK	14	19	21	19	14	12	9	22	34	21	21	21	8	26	25	10	11	307
Australia	3	4	10	1	3	2		6	8	3	4	9	8	4	4			69
New Zealand	3		13	2		1		4	1	2	2	1	2		7	1		39
South Africa	2	2	2					1		5	2				1	2		17
France			1			1		11		3								16
Israel			1			1		4								3		9
Ireland		1	2												2	2		7
Germany												1			2			3
Netherland			1								2							3
Hong Kong							1		1									2
India			2															2
Switzerland								1										1

Table 5

Citation of foreign constitutions, codes, statutes and regulations by the SCC per year.

COUNTRIES	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	TOTAL
UK	3	7	10	1	3	8	4	12	1	2	5	6	3	7	9	6	12	99
US	1	4	4	3	3	2	14	6	2	4	4	6	3	5	5	1	2	69
Australia		2	3	1	2	1	1	5	3		5		4	2	8		3	40
New Zealand		1	1		3	1		1	1				1		1		1	11
France								3				3				1	1	8
South Africa											1		1			1	1	4
Ireland		1												1				2
Belgium		1																1
India				1														1
Rwanda						1												1
Romania											1							1
Germany												1						1
Spain																1		1
Portugal																1		1
Italy																1		1
Sweden																	1	1
TOTAL	4	16	18	6	11	13	19	27	7	6	16	16	12	15	23	12	21	242

Table 6

SCC decisions citing foreign constitutions, codes, statutes and regulations per year.

YEAR	Total Number of SCC Decisions per Year	Number of SCC Decisions Citing Comparative Law per Year	Number of SCC Decisions Citing Comparative Law per Year in Percentage
2000	69	4	5.8%
2001	94	6	6.4%
2002	86	7	8.1%
2003	75	3	4%
2004	82	6	7.3%
2005	86	6	7%
2006	59	6	10.2%
2007	54	11	20.4%
2008	72	5	6.9%
2009	62	6	9.7%
2010	67	6	9%
2011	66	8	12.1%
2012	75	7	9%
2013	73	6	8.2%
2014	78	9	11.6%
2015	69	5	7.2%
2016	56	5	8.9%
TOTAL	1223	106	Average/Year 9%

Top 10 fields with the highest number of citation of foreign case law.

Table 7

Top 10 fields of law with the highest number of citation of foreign constitutions, codes, statutes and regulations.

FIELDS OF LAW	Total Number of Citations of Comparative Law per Field of Law	Percentage from the Total Number of Citations of Comparative Law
Constitutional Law	124	36%
Criminal Law	61	18%
Intellectual Property	27	8%
Administrative Law	22	6.5%
Evidence	14	4%
Civil Procedure	13	3.8%
Labour Law	13	3.8%
Torts	9	2.6%
International Law (Public & Private)	9	2.6%
Immigration Law	5	1.4%
Other (22 Fields of Law)	48	13.9%

Table 8

SCC decisions with foreign constitutions, codes, statutes and regulations & their fields of law.

FIELDS OF LAW	Total Number of SCC Decisions with Comparative Law per Field of Law	Percentage from the Total Number of Decisions per Field of Law
Constitutional Law	38	25%
Criminal Law	26	17.1%
Intellectual Property	14	9.2%
Administrative Law	11	7.2%
Civil Procedure	8	5.3%
Torts	8	5.3%
International Law (Public & Private)	7	4.6%
Evidence	6	3.9%
Immigration Law	3	2%
Courts	3	2%
Other (22 Fields of Law)	28	18.5%

Table 9

Citation of international case law by the SCC.

YEAR	Total Nr of SCC Decisions	Number of SCC Decisions Citing International/Supranational Case Law	Total International/Supranational Case Law per Year
2000	69	0	0
2001	94	5	11
2002	86	4	7
2003	75	2	3
2004	82	4	4
2005	86	3	15
2006	59	0	0
2007	54	7	11
2008	72	2	5
2009	62	3	10
2010	67	5	11
2011	66	3	5
2012	75	0	0
2013	73	5	10
2014	78	5	23
2015	69	6	11
2016	56	0	0
TOTAL	1223	54	126
AVERAGE PER YEAR	71.9	3.2	7.4

Table 10

International/supranational courts cited by the SCC.

INT/NL COURTS	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2013	2014	2015	TOTAL
ECtHR⁴¹	8	4		1		3		4	7	2		3	9	41 (32.5%)
ICTY⁴²		1			6				1		3	2		13 (10.3%)
ICJ⁴³					1	1					1	7		10 (7.9%)
CJEU⁴⁴					2							6		8 (6.3%)
ICTR⁴⁵					5									5 (3.9%)
ICC⁴⁶											4			4 (3.2%)
IACHR⁴⁷												4		4 (3.2%)
PCA⁴⁸						1						1		2 (1.5%)
ECHR⁴⁹						1								1 (0.8%)
PCIJ⁵⁰						1								1(0.8%)
CEU⁵¹				1										1 (0.8%)
EPO⁵²		1												1(0.8%)
UNHRC⁵³													1	1 (0.8%)
JCPC⁵⁴	3	1	3	2	1	4	5	6	3	3	2		1	34 (27%)

Table 11

Citation of international treaties by the SCC.

YEAR	Total Nr of SCC Decisions per Year	Decisions Citing International Treaties	Percentage of Decisions Citing International Treaties	Total Nr of Citation of International Treaties per Year
2000	69	7	10.1%	11
2001	94	8	8.5%	45
2002	86	11	12.7%	50
2003	75	5	6.6%	10
2004	82	5	6.1%	20
2005	86	9	10.5%	18
2006	59	8	13.6%	14
2007	54	6	11.1%	13
2008	72	5	7%	9
2009	62	3	4.8%	9
2010	67	6	9%	14
2011	66	4	6%	11
2012	75	11	14.7%	15
2013	73	3	4.1%	16
2014	78	5	6.4%	37
2015	69	10	14.5%	33
2016	56	4	7.1%	11
AVERAGE	72	6.5	9%	19.8
TOTAL	1223	110		336

Table 12

Top 10 international treaties cited by the SCC.

International Treaties	Number of Times Cited
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights	22
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms[The European Convention on Human Rights]	15
Universal Declaration of Human Rights	13
Convention on the Rights of the Child	12
Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties	10
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights	9
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees	9
Berlin Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works	6
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)	6
Convention (No. 87) Concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize	5
(Other 181 International Treaties)	229
TOTAL	336

SCC decisions citing international judgment according to fields of Law.

SCC decisions citing international treaties and their fields of law.

Table 13

Data about the total number of citation of non-domestic legal sources by individual judges of the SCC (2000–2016).

Judges	Total Number of Times Citing Non-Domestic Legal Sources	Period Served(within my timeframe)	Time Served in Months
Binnie	497	(01.01.2000–20.10.2011)	142
Chief Justice McLachlin	393	(07.01.2000–31.12.2016) (Current)	204
LeBel	371	(07.01.2000–30.11.2014)	179
Abella	248	(30.08.2004–31.12.2016) (Current)	148
Bastarache	190	(01.01.2000–30.06.2008)	102
Cromwell	183	(22.12.2008–31.08.2016)	92
Deschamps	180	(07.08.2002–07.08.2012)	120
Rothstein	126	(01.03.2006–30.08.2015)	114
Charron	123	(30.08.2004–30.08.2011)	84
Iacobucci	115	(01.01.2000–30.06.2004)	54
Fish	111	(05.08.2003–31.08.2013)	121
Arbour	97	(01.01.2000–30.06.2004)	54
Major	96	(01.01.2000–25.12.2005)	72
L’Heureux-Dubé	72	(01.01.2000–01.07.2002)	30
Gonthier	65	(01.01.2000–31.07.2003)	43
Moldaver	55	(21.10.2011–31.12.2016) (Current)	62
Coté	53	(01.12.2014–31.12.2016) (Current)	25
Karakatsanis	38	(21-10-2011–31.12.2016) (Current)	62
Wagner	30	(05-10-2012–31.12.2016) (Current)	51
Gascon	22	(09-06-2014–31.12.2016) (Current)	31
Brown	20	(31.08.2015–31.12.2016) (Current)	16

Table 14

Classification of SCC judges according to the average of citation per month of non-domestic legal sources (2000–2016).

Judges	Average of Citation per Month	Number of Times Citing Non-Domestic Legal Sources
Binnie	3.5	497
L’Heureux-Dubé	2.4	72
Iacobucci	2.129	115
Coté	2.12	53
LeBel	2.07	371
Cromwell	1.98	182
Chief Justice McLachlin	1.92	393
Bastarache	1.86	190
Arbour	1.79	97
Abella	1.67	233
Gonthier	1.51	42
Deschamps	1.5	180
Charron	1.46	123
Major	1.33	96
Brown	1.25	20
Rothstein	1.1	125
Fish	0.91	109
Moldaver	0.88	55
Gascon	0.7	22
Karakatsanis	0.61	38
Wagner	0.58	29

Table 15

Comparing current justices with former justices on the citation of non-domestic legal sources.

CURRENT JUDGES	Nr of Times Citing Non-Domestic Legal Sources	Average of Citation per Month
Coté	53	2.12
Chief Justice McLachlin	393	1.92
Abella	248	1.67
Brown	20	1.25
Moldaver	55	0.88
Gascon	22	0.7
Karakatsanis	38	0.61
Wagner	30	0.58
TOTAL	859	1.21
FORMER JUDGES	Nr of Times Citing Non-Domestic Legal Sources	Average of Citation per Month
Binnie	497	3.5
Iacobucci	115	2.129
Cromwell	183	1.98
LeBel	371	2.07
L’Heureux-Dubé	72	2.4
Bastarache	190	1.86
Charron	123	1.46
Major	96	1.33
Arbour	97	1.79
Deschamps	180	1.5
Gonthier	65	1.46
Rothstein	126	1.1
Fish	111	0.91
TOTAL	2226	1.8

Table 16

Total citation of all four forms of non-domestic legal sources according to individual judges.

JUDGES	Comparative Case Law	International Case Law	Comparative Statutes and Regulations	International Treaties
Binnie	372	18	49	58
McLachlin	231	20	58	84
LeBel	208	44	35	84
Abella	164	21	38	25
Bastarache	116	12	19	43
Cromwell	130	5	24	24
Deschamps	129	14	13	24
Rothstein	91	1	11	23
Charron	85	12	21	5
Iacobucci	102	0	5	8
Fish	57	21	17	16
Arbour	87	0	8	2
Major	71	12	8	5
L’Heureux-Dubé	35	2	11	24
Gonthier	33	4	13	15
Moldaver	27	2	10	16
Coté	33	0	0	20
Karakatsanis	26	1	9	2
Wagner	26	1	2	1
Gascon	20	0	1	1
Brown	14	0	2	4