| Attorney General for Quebec v Queen Insurance Company | |
|---|---|
 The Queen Insurance Company case was an early decision of the Judicial Committee interpreting the British North America Act, 1867 | |
| Court | Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) |
| Full case name | The Honourable Auguste-Réal Angers, Attorney General for the Province of Quebec, pro Dominà Reginà v. The Queen Insurance Company |
| Decided | July 5, 1878 |
| Citations | (1878), 3 AC 1090 (PC), [1878] UKPC 33, 1 Cart BNA 117, 22 LC Jurist 311 |
| Case history | |
| Prior actions | Attorney General of Quebec pro Domina Regina v Queen Insurance Company, (1877), 1 Cart BNA 153, 21 LC Jurist 77 (QC SC); upheld on appeal (1877), 1 Cart BNA 131, 16 CLJ 198, 22 LC Jurist 307 (QC QB). |
| Appealed from | Quebec Court of Queen's Bench .svg){kind=small} |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | Sir James W. Colvile Sir Barnes Peacock Sir Montague Smith Sir Robert P. Collier Sir George Jessel, Master of the Rolls |
| Case opinions | |
| Provincial licensing fee on insurance companies held unconstitutional under the division of powers | |
| Decision by | Sir George Jessel, Master of the Rolls |
| Keywords | |
| Provincial taxation and licensing powers | |
Attorney General for Quebec v Queen Insurance Company is a Canadian constitutional law decision in 1878, dealing with the taxation and licensing powers of the provinces under the federal-provincial division of powers.
The case concerned a Quebec statute which imposed a licence fee on insurance companies. The issue was whether the fee exceeded provincial authority under the British North America Act, 1867 (now known as the Constitution Act, 1867). The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) in Britain, at that time the court of last resort for Canada within the British Empire, held that the statute was unconstitutional.
This was the first case where the JCPC considered the scope of provincial taxation powers and licensing powers under the Constitution Act, 1867. It was also the first case where the JCPC held that a provincial statute was unconstitutional under the division of powers.