STARE DECISIS IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA

Abstract

The author examines the status of the stare decisis rule in the Supreme Court of Canada by analysing existing decisions. As a comparative viewpoint, he examines the attitude of South Africa’s Appellate Division of the Supreme Court when faced with precisely the same problem. Finally, he analyses the Supreme Court Amendment Act to argue that it presents such a unique situation that the existing authorities examined in the first part of the article are inadequate to deal with it. To deal with this apparent gap in authority, the author canvasses the advantages and disadvantages of following two possible paths to reform.