Court of Appeal Ruling
In 2003, the couples in Halpern appealed the decision, requesting that the decision take effect immediately instead of after a delay. On June 10, 2003, the Court of Appeal for Ontario confirmed that current Canadian law on marriage violated the equality provisions in Section Fifteen of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in being restricted to heterosexual couples. The appeals court struck down the stay of judgment given in the 2002 ruling, thereby causing the judgment to come into effect immediately.
Although marriage is a federal law, the court only had jurisdiction to implement the ruling within Ontario. The province thus became the first jurisdiction in North America to recognize same-sex marriage. Consequently, the city government of Toronto announced that the city clerk would begin issuing marriage licences to same-sex couples. The next day, the Attorney General of Ontario announced that his government would comply with the ruling.
The court also ruled that two couples who had previously attempted to marry using an ancient common-law procedure called reading the banns would be considered legally married.
Read more about this topic: Same-sex Marriage In Ontario
Famous quotes containing the words court of, court, appeal and/or ruling:
“In the court of the movie Owner, none criticized, none doubted. And none dared speak of art. In the Owner’s mind art was a synonym for bankruptcy.... The movie Owners are the only troupe in the history of entertainment that has never been seduced by the adventure of the entertainment world.”
—Ben Hecht (1893–1964)
“In the court of the movie Owner, none criticized, none doubted. And none dared speak of art. In the Owner’s mind art was a synonym for bankruptcy.... The movie Owners are the only troupe in the history of entertainment that has never been seduced by the adventure of the entertainment world.”
—Ben Hecht (1893–1964)
“Vernacular buildings are not the sentimental, picturesque backdrop to real life. They may be beautiful, but that is beside the point. They have emerged out of hard necessities, hard work and hard lives. Their appeal lies in the sense they make.”
—Gillian Darley (b. 1940)
“A theory of the middle class: that it is not to be determined by its financial situation but rather by its relation to government. That is, one could shade down from an actual ruling or governing class to a class hopelessly out of relation to government, thinking of gov’t as beyond its control, of itself as wholly controlled by gov’t. Somewhere in between and in gradations is the group that has the sense that gov’t exists for it, and shapes its consciousness accordingly.”
—Lionel Trilling (1905–1975)