Andrews v Law Society of British Columbia
| Andrews v Law Society of British Columbia | |
|---|---|
| Hearing: October 5, 6, 1987 Judgment: February 2, 1989 | |
| Full case name | The Law Society of British Columbia and The Attorney General of British Columbia v Mark David Andrews and Gorel Elizabeth Kinersly |
| Citations | [1989] 1 SCR 143 |
| Docket No. | 19956 |
| Prior history | Judgment for Andrews and Kinersly in the Court of Appeal for British Columbia. |
| Ruling | Appeal dismissed |
| Holding | |
| A rule which bars an entire class of persons from certain forms of employment, solely on the grounds of a lack of citizenship status and without consideration of educational and professional qualifications or the other attributes or merits of individuals in the group, infringes section 15 equality rights. | |
| Court membership | |
| Chief Justice: Brian Dickson Puisne Justices: Jean Beetz, Willard Estey, William McIntyre, Antonio Lamer, Bertha Wilson, Gerald Le Dain, Gérard La Forest, Claire L'Heureux-Dubé | |
| Reasons given | |
| Majority | Wilson J, joined by Dickson CJ and L'Heureux-Dubé JJ |
| Concur/dissent | La Forest J |
| Dissent | McIntyre J, joined by Lamer J |
| Beetz, Estey and Le Dain JJ took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
Andrews v Law Society of British Columbia, [1989] 1 SCR 143 is the first Supreme Court of Canada case to deal with the equality rights provided under Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. British law graduate Mark David Andrews challenged the validity of Section 42 of the Barristers and Solicitors Act contending that the Canadian citizenship requirement for being called to the bar violated Section 15 of the Charter.
The Supreme Court outlined a test, sometimes called the "Andrews test", to determine whether there has been a prima facie violation of equality rights. Andrews further held that discrimination according to grounds analogous to those enumerated in Section 15 could result in a violation of the Charter.