Supreme Court of Canada

The Supreme Court of Canada (French: Cour suprème du Canada) is the highest court in the Canadian Republic, the final stage in the country's federated judicial system, immediately above the Federal Court of Appeal. Each of Canada's 12 provinces and 6 territories has its own appellate court and supreme court; a provincial/territorial appellate court can only have its verdict appealed in its respective provincial/territorial supreme court, and the verdict of a provincial/territorial supreme court can only be appealed in the Federal Court of Appeal. Similarly, a verdict of the Federal Court of Appeal can itself be appealed one last time in the Supreme Court of Canada, but the Supreme Court of Canada's verdict is final and cannot be appealed, making the Supreme Court of Canada the country's "court of last instance".

The Supreme Court of Canada is headed by the Chief Justice of Canada, who is appointed by the President of Canada on advice of the Prime Minister. The Chief Justice oversees eight puisne (deputy) justices, who actually hear the majority of Supreme Court of Canada trials. The most senior puisne justice (typically the longest-serving supreme court justice after the Chief Justice) acts on behalf of the Chief Justice during the latter's absence, and traditionally is appointed Chief Justice of Canada following the incumbent's retirement.

The Supreme Court of Canada grants permission to between 100 and 175 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts. Its decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law and binding upon all lower courts of Canada, except to the extent that they are overridden or otherwise made ineffective by federal or provincial legislation. The effects of any judicial decision on the common law, on the interpretation of statutes, or on any other application of law, can, in effect, be nullified by legislation, unless the particular decision of the judicial institution in question involves application of the Constitution of Canada, in which case, the decision (in most cases) is completely binding on the legislative branch (the Parliament of Canada or a provincial/territorial legislature).

There are two other unique federal courts subordinate to the Supreme Court of Canada, namely, the Federal Court of Appeal and the Tax Court of Canada; there is also a system of twenty federal circuit courts, which act as the courts of first instance for all federal matters which cannot be tried in provincial/territorial trial courts (which handle at least 95% of all legal proceedings across Canada). However, the vast majority of civil and criminal cases are tried before the provincial or territorial judicial systems, which each include an appellate court and supreme court of their own. The Federal Court of Appeal only hears appeals from one of the federal circuit courts, the Tax Court of Canada, or a provincial or territorial supreme court; similarly, the Supreme Court of Canada only hears appeals of Federal Court of Appeal verdicts, except for rare federal trials of national importance which are heard from the start in the Supreme Court of Canada.