Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6 (2014)

E263993

Supreme Court of Canada decision constitutional reference

Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6 (2014) is a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision that clarified the constitutional requirements and limits for reforming the Court’s composition and appointment process under Canada’s amending formula.

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All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6	2
Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6 (2014) canonical	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2412361 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6 (2014)
Context triple: [Constitutional amending formula, notableCase, Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6 (2014)]

A. Supreme Court Act 2003
The Supreme Court Act 2003 is the New Zealand statute that established the Supreme Court as the country’s highest appellate court, replacing appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.
B. Judiciary Act 1903
The Judiciary Act 1903 is an Australian federal statute that structured the nation’s judicial system and defined the jurisdiction and operation of the High Court of Australia.
C. Senior Courts Act 2016
The Senior Courts Act 2016 is New Zealand legislation that reformed and codified the structure, jurisdiction, and operation of the country’s higher courts, including the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, and High Court.
D. Courts Act 2003
The Courts Act 2003 is a key piece of UK legislation that modernised and reorganised the court system in England and Wales, defining the structure, administration, and operation of the judiciary.
E. Senior Courts Act 1981
The Senior Courts Act 1981 is a key piece of UK legislation that organizes and defines the structure, jurisdiction, and procedures of the senior courts of England and Wales.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6 (2014)
Target entity description: Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6 (2014) is a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision that clarified the constitutional requirements and limits for reforming the Court’s composition and appointment process under Canada’s amending formula.

A. Supreme Court Act 2003
The Supreme Court Act 2003 is the New Zealand statute that established the Supreme Court as the country’s highest appellate court, replacing appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.
B. Judiciary Act 1903
The Judiciary Act 1903 is an Australian federal statute that structured the nation’s judicial system and defined the jurisdiction and operation of the High Court of Australia.
C. Senior Courts Act 2016
The Senior Courts Act 2016 is New Zealand legislation that reformed and codified the structure, jurisdiction, and operation of the country’s higher courts, including the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, and High Court.
D. Courts Act 2003
The Courts Act 2003 is a key piece of UK legislation that modernised and reorganised the court system in England and Wales, defining the structure, administration, and operation of the judiciary.
E. Senior Courts Act 1981
The Senior Courts Act 1981 is a key piece of UK legislation that organizes and defines the structure, jurisdiction, and procedures of the senior courts of England and Wales.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Supreme Court of Canada decision ⓘ constitutional reference ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Nadon Reference ⓘ Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6 ⓘ linked to: Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6 (2014)
bindingOn	all Canadian courts ⓘ
characterization	landmark decision ⓘ leading case on constitutional amendment and Supreme Court composition ⓘ
citation	2014 SCC 21 ⓘ
concernedProvision	section 5 of the Supreme Court Act ⓘ section 6 of the Supreme Court Act ⓘ
constitutionalDoctrine	amending formula under Part V of the Constitution Act, 1982 ⓘ entrenchment of the Supreme Court of Canada’s composition ⓘ
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted	Constitution Act, 1867 ⓘ Constitution Act, 1982, Part V ⓘ linked to: Constitution Act, 1982
country	Canada ⓘ
court	Supreme Court of Canada ⓘ
decisionDate	2014-03-21 ⓘ
decisionType	advisory opinion ⓘ
governsTopic	constitutional limits on federal legislation affecting the Supreme Court of Canada ⓘ eligibility of Quebec appointees to the Supreme Court of Canada ⓘ
heldThat	Parliament cannot unilaterally change the eligibility requirements for judges from Quebec on the Supreme Court of Canada ⓘ Parliament cannot unilaterally enact legislation to permit former advocates of the Quebec bar appointed to the Federal Court to be appointed to Quebec seats on the Supreme Court of Canada ⓘ changes to the composition of the Supreme Court of Canada require a constitutional amendment under the general amending formula in Part V of the Constitution Act, 1982 ⓘ sections 5 and 6 of the Supreme Court Act, as they relate to the composition of the Court, have constitutional status ⓘ
impact	clarified that the Supreme Court of Canada has a constitutional status and composition that cannot be altered unilaterally by Parliament ⓘ influenced subsequent debates on Senate and Supreme Court reform ⓘ limited federal legislative power over eligibility criteria for Supreme Court of Canada judges ⓘ
jurisdiction	federal ⓘ
languageOfDecision	English ⓘ French ⓘ
legalArea	Canadian federalism ⓘ constitutional law ⓘ judicial appointments ⓘ
legalSystem	common law ⓘ
neutralCitation	2014 SCC 21 ⓘ
originatingParty	Government of Canada ⓘ linked to: Canadian federal government (Ottawa)
originatingStatute	Supreme Court Act ⓘ
provinceConcerned	Quebec ⓘ linked to: Quebec, Canada
questionType	reference question ⓘ
relatedCase	Reference re Senate Reform ⓘ linked to: Reference re Senate Reform (2014)
relatedTo	entrenchment of the Supreme Court of Canada in the Constitution ⓘ reform of the Supreme Court of Canada ⓘ
shortName	Supreme Court Act Reference ⓘ linked to: Supreme Court Act
subjectMatter	constitutional requirements for appointment of Quebec judges to the Supreme Court of Canada ⓘ interpretation of sections 5 and 6 of the Supreme Court Act ⓘ limits on Parliament’s power to amend the composition of the Supreme Court of Canada ⓘ
yearDecided	2014 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Constitutional amending formula → notableCase → Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6 (2014) ⓘ

Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6 (2014) → alsoKnownAs → Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6 ⓘ

linked to: Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6 (2014)

Nadon Reference → alsoKnownAs → Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6 ⓘ