Date: Mon, 8 May 2006 15:12:03 -0300

From: Vaughan Black

Subject: Damages for Charter violations

Canadian members of the group may be interested in the decision the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal handed down today in Bevis v. Burns. (It's not up on the NSCA website yet, but should be in a day or two.)

It deals with damages for Charter violations. The plaintiffs were wrongly arrested and imprisoned by the two police officers and brought claims for assault, battery, false arrest and false imprisonment. They succeeded at trial and asked that the trial judge instruct the jury to include a separate head of damages for the fact that their Charter rights had been violated. The defendant cops argued against a separate head of damages for Charter violations, and the trial judge agreed with them. (Note this was all under the heading of compensatory damages -- not punitives, or even aggravated.)

The NSCA allowed the plaintiffs' appeal. It did not go so far as to mandate that trial judges require a separate head of damages for Charter violations, but it did say that trial judges had to emphasize to the jury the importance of the Charter rights in question (by reading them the appropriate portions of the Charter and telling them about the purpose and importance of the Charter), and also tell the jury that its award must vindicate the Charter rights in question.

It's not exactly earthshattering, but there are surprisingly few cases on this point so I thought I'd bring this one to the group's attention.

vb

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