Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada have the option of releasing reasons for a unanimous decision without individual attribution by simply attributing the judgment to "The Court".

The practice began around 1979 by Chief Justice Bora Laskin, borrowing from the US Supreme Court practice of anonymizing certain unanimous decisions.L'Heureux-Dubé, Claire. "The Dissenting Opinion: Voice of the Future?" 38 Osgoode Hall L.J. 495 at 500 Unlike in the US, which uses it primarily for uncontroversial cases, in Canada, it is used almost always for important and controversial cases.McCormick, Peter. "The Political Jurisprudence of Hot Potatoes" (2002) 13 Nat'l J. Const. L. 271 at 176

It has been suggested that the practice has been used to give greater authority to the decision by having the entire court speak as a single voice.Bzdera, Andre. "Comparative Analysis of Federal High Courts: A Political Theory of Judicial Review" (1993) 26 Canadian Journal of Political Science 3 at 25

Peter McCormick, a professor of political science at the University of Lethbridge who studies Canada's appellate courts states that there were 9 reported by the court decisions prior to Laskin's term as Chief Justice of Canada, 15 reported such decisions under Laskin's chief justiceship, and 51 reported such decisions under Brian Dickson's chief justiceship.McCormick, Peter. "The Supervisory Role of the Supreme Court of Canada: Analysis of Appeals from Provincial Courts of Appeal, 1949-1990" (1992), 3(2d) Supreme Court Law Review 1, at p. 27.

List The following is a list of anonymous decisions that are attributed to "The Court":

Case name Citation SubjectQuebec (AG) v Blaikie (No 1) 2 SCR 1016Minority language rightsQuebec (AG) v Blaikie (No 2) 1 SCR 312Language of delegated legislationQuebec (AG) v Quebec Assn of Protestant School Boards 2 SCR 66Minority language education rightsReference Re Manitoba Language Rights 1 SCR 721Language rightsR v Baig 2 SCR 537Right to counselFord v Quebec (AG) 2 SCR 712 Commercial freedom of expressionDevine v Quebec (AG) 2 SCR 790Freedom of expression, French language legislationTremblay v Daigle 2 SCR 530AbortionReference Re Milgaard 1 SCR 866Wrongful conviction - murderReference Re Secession of Quebec 2 SCR 217 SecessionDel Zotto v Canada 1 SCR 3Quebec (Deputy Minister of Revenue) v Nolisair International Inc (Trustee of); Sécurité Saglac (1992) Inc (Trustee of) v Quebec (Deputy Minister of Revenue) 1 SCR 759R v Marshall 3 SCR 533 Aboriginal fishing rightsReference Re Firearms Act 1 SCR 783Gun controlR v Latimer 1 SCR 3 Cruel and unusual punishment, mercy killingsSmith v Canada (AG)2001 SCC 88 Privacy Act (Can) (Re)2001 SCC 89R v Larivière2001 SCC 93United States v Burns2001 SCC 7Extradition and executionSuresh v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration)2002 SCC 1TortureAhani v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration)2002 SCC 2 TortureR v Powley2003 SCC 43Métis hunting rightsR v Blais2003 SCC 44Métis hunting rightsReference Re Same-Sex Marriage2004 SCC 79Same-sex marriageR v RGL2005 SCC 18Solski (Tutor of) v Quebec (AG)2005 SCC 14Gosselin (Tutor of) v Quebec (AG)2005 SCC 15Okwuobi v Lester B Pearson School Board2005 SCC 16Provincial Court Judges' Assn of New Brunswick v New Brunswick (Minister of Justice)2005 SCC 44 Judicial independenceR v Rodrigue2005 SCC 67Forum des maires de la Péninsule acadienne v Canada (Food Inspection Agency)2005 SCC 85R v Hazout2006 SCC 42BCE Inc v 1976 Debentureholders2008 SCC 69Nature of the duties of corporate directors in Canadian law.R v Ahmad2011 SCC 6Whether Parliament's decision to limit superior courts from determining questions of disclosure of information pertaining to international relations, national defence or national security invades the core jurisdiction of superior courtsReference Re Securities Act2011 SCC 66Constitutionality of a proposed federal securities regulator.Reference Re Broadcasting Act2012 SCC 4Whether Internet service providers are "broadcasters" when providing access to broadcasting through InternetMomentous.ca Corp v Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball Ltd2012 SCC 9Conflict of lawsFundy Settlement v Canada2012 SCC 14Taxation and trustsCanada (AG) v Kane2012 SCC 64Standard of review of Public Service Staffing Tribunal decisionConstruction Labour Relations v Driver Iron Inc2012 SCC 65Judicial review of Alberta Labour Relations Board decisionR v Mailhot2013 SCC 17Fairness of charge to jury.R v Ibanescu2013 SCC 31Admissibility of straddle evidenceReference re Senate Reform2014 SCC 32Whether Parliament can unilaterally set fixed terms for Senators — Whether Parliament can unilaterally implement framework for consultative elections for appointments to Senate — Whether Parliament can unilaterally repeal ss. 23(3) and 23(4) of Constitution Act, 1867 requiring that Senators must own land worth $4,000 in province for which they are appointed and have net worth of at least $4,000 — Whether constitutional amendment abolishing Senate may be accomplished by general amending procedure or whether unanimous consent procedure appliesCarter v Canada (AG)2015 SCC 5Physician-assisted suicide.R v Goleski2015 SCC 6Burden of proof of proving an "excuse" under s. 794(2) of the Criminal CodeZurich Insurance Co v Chubb Insurance Co of Canada2015 SCC 19Whether specific insurance company is an "insurer" for the purposes of Ontario statutory accident benefits schemeCaplin v Canada (Justice)2015 SCC 32 Whether Minister of Justice's surrender via extradition of an accused charged with murder was reasonableCanada (AG) v Barnaby2015 SCC 31Whether Minister of Justice's surrender via extradition of an accused charged with murder was reasonable; Whether extraditing the accused to possibly be subjected to a fourth trial would be contrary to the principles of fundamental justice under s. 7 of the CharterR v Smith2015 SCC 34Whether regulations limiting the lawful possession of medical marijuana to dried forms infringe the right to life, liberty and security of the prison under s. 7 of the Charter; Whether accused has standing to challenge the constitutional validity of provisions under the Controlled Drugs and Substances ActR v Cody2017 SCC 31Unreasonable delay.R v Comeau2018 SCC 15Interprovincial Trade.Reference re An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families2024 SCC 5Whether Parliament enacting a statute establishing national standards to protect Indigenous children and affirming Indigenous peoples’ inherent right of self‑government in relation to child and family services is ultra vires.

See also Per curiam decision

References

Further reading