| Carter v Canada (Attorney General) | |
|---|---|
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| Hearing: October 15, 2014 Judgment: February 6, 2015 | |
| Citations | 2015 SCC 5 |
| Docket No. | S112688 [1] |
| Prior history | On appeal from the Court of Appeal for British Columbia |
| Ruling | Appeal allowed |
| Holding | |
| Criminal prohibition of assisted suicide violates the Charter. | |
| Court membership | |
| Chief Justice | Beverley McLachlin |
| Puisne Justices | Louis LeBel, Rosalie Abella, Marshall Rothstein, Thomas Cromwell, Michael Moldaver, Andromache Karakatsanis, Richard Wagner, Clément Gascon. |
| Reasons given | |
| Unanimous reasons by | The Court |
| Laws applied | |
| Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s 7 Criminal Code, ss 14, 241(b) | |
Carter v Canada (AG), 2015 SCC 5 is a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision where the prohibition of assisted suicide was challenged as contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms ("Charter") by several parties, including the family of Kay Carter, a woman suffering from degenerative spinal stenosis, and Gloria Taylor, a woman suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ("ALS").[2] In a unanimous decision on February 6, 2015, the Court struck down the provision in the Criminal Code, thereby giving Canadian adults who are mentally competent and suffering intolerably and enduringly the right to a doctor's assistance in dying.[3] This ruling overturned the Supreme Court's 1993 ruling in Rodriguez v British Columbia (AG), which had denied a right to assisted suicide.
The court suspended its ruling for 12 months, with the decision taking effect in 2016, to give the federal government enough time to amend its laws.[4] In January 2016, the court granted an additional four-month extension to its ruling suspension to allow time for the newly elected federal Liberal government to consult with Canadians on drafting a law to comply with the ruling. As an interim measure, it also ruled that provincial courts could approve applications for euthanasia until the new law passed.[5]
- ^ SCC Case Information - Docket S112688 Supreme Court of Canada
- ^ Carter v. Canada: The Death with Dignity Case, British Columbia Civil Liberties Association
- ^ "Supreme Court Judgments". Supreme Court of Canada. SCC/CSC. February 6, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
- ^ Chappell, Bill. "Canadians Have A Right To Assisted Suicide, High Court Says". NPR. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
- ^ "Supreme court gives Parliament 4-month extension on doctor-assisted dying law". January 15, 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.