Supreme Court website to include only translated judgments following controversy

By Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press on November 8, 2024.

OTTAWA – The registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada says from now on only judgments prepared in both English and French will appear on the court’s website.

The statement from the registrar is the latest development in a controversy over access to the top court’s historical decisions in both official languages.

Between 1877 and 1970, the court issued approximately 6,000 decisions that were not translated.

It says some were in French, some in English, and others in both languages.

Since 2019, the registrar had made every judgment in the court’s history available via its website.

Pre-1970 judgments have been removed from the Supreme Court site, and the registrar says those wishing to access them may search other open, online databases.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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