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Top Court tales by Philip Slayton A pretty dull year Nothing particularly notable came from the grand old building on the banks of the Ottawa River this past year. T his is what you've been waiting for, my end-of-year Supreme Court of Canada roundup, bringing to your attention, in case you missed any of it, the good, the bad, and the ugly, all pouring forth from that grand old building on the banks of the Ottawa River. Actually, it was a pretty dull year, but let's see what we can dig up. The court stumbled badly coming out of the 2013 starting gate. In R. v. N.S. the issue was whether a Muslim woman could wear a niqab, religious clothing which obscures the face, while giving courtroom testimony. (OK, I know the judgment was handed down at the end of December 2012, but no one paid any attention to it until after New Year's Eve hangovers had worn off.) A majority led by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin decided — well, just about nothing, that's the problem. The chief justice said no clear rule, either for or against the niqab, was sustainable. What is required, she said, is "a just and proportionate balance between freedom of religion and trial fairness, based on the particular case before the court." Only Justice Rosalie Abella got it right. She said it was significantly more harmful to require a witness to remove her niqab, with the likely result she will not testify, than to prevent the accused from seeing a witness' entire face. A failing grade for you on this one, 16 November/December 2013 Supreme Court of Canada. You're supposed to decide the big and difficult questions, not punt them back to junior judges. R. v. N.S. is the worst decision of the last 12 months. Dining in the dark A "corporate team building" company has been advertising the Supreme Court www.CANADIAN L a w ye r m a g . c o m of Canada is one of its satisfied customers (along with Wal-Mart). The pamphlet quotes an SCC spokesperson: "We've had excellent feedback about our retreat (and more importantly, no criticisms which is quite a feat here!). . . . I would also like to say — kudos for the quality of the translated material. We were worried about the quality of the written French but it Dushan Milic Who is that masked woman?