Today, in Henry v. British Columbia (Attorney General), 2016 BCSC 1038 Chief Justice Chris Hinkson of the BC Supreme Court awarded Ivan Henry Charter damages of $7.5 million for the violation of his Charter rights resulting in his wrongful conviction and imprisonment for 27 years. He also awarded about half a million dollars for compensation as compensation for past loss of income and special damages of about $50,000. But after considering the “cap” on non-pecuniary damages and deciding that it was not applicable in this case, the Chief Justice sought to “vindicate” the wrongs of the British Columbian government.

Bearing in mind the direction of Chief Justice McLachlin in Ward that just as private law damages must be fair to both the plaintiff and the defendant, so s. 24(1) damages must be fair — or “appropriate and just” — to both the claimant and the state, and weighing the social burden of a large award to Mr. Henry against his suffering and loss of amenities, I find that an appropriate award to vindicate the violation of Mr. Henry’s Charter rights is the sum of $7.5 million. 

I will expand on this case in a later post. In the interim, I wanted to let you know of this important decision.  Click here to go directly to the decision.

Constitutionally yours,

Arthur Grant