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The supreme Court of
Canada was not a part of the 1867 BNA act but was an
afterthought which was created and constituted by the
government of Alexander Mackenzie, with the support of
John A Macdonald in 1875. This was done based upon the
BNA Act granting the Canadian Federal government the
right to establish the court but the final curt of
appeal for legal issues remained the Judicial Committee
of the Privy Council in Britain. This remained the case
until 1933 when criminal appeals restricted to the
Supreme Court of Canada and then the same rule was
applied in 1949 when civil appeals were also restricted.
Originally established with 6 justices,
these was increased to 7 in 1927 and then 9 in 1949 when
all appeals to Britain were eliminated. The rules of
appoint require that 3 judges be appointed from Quebec,
3 from Ontario and traditionally 2 from the west and 1
from the Maritimes.
The current Supreme Court building was
begun in 1939 during the Royal visit of King George and
Queen Elizabeth who laid the corner stone of the of the
courthouse and was opened in January 1946.
Many of the issues
which came before the court over the history of Canada
pertained to whether laws were within or without the
rights of the Federal and Provincial governments to
legislate on. Since 1982 and the entrenchment of the
Charter of Freedom and Rights, the court has
increasingly ruled on issues relating to the rights as
guaranteed in the Charter.
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