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2007.02.20
Supreme Court of Canada on restitution of invalid taxes
I've just caught up with the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in Kingstreet Investments Ltd. v. New Brunswick (Department of Finance) [2007] SCC 1 (11 January 2007) which decides:
- A remedy for payment of ultra vires taxes is available as of constitutional right, rather than under the law of unjust enrichment.
- The right to restitution is a matter of fundamental constitutional principle. "The
action for recovery of taxes is firmly grounded, as a public law remedy in a
constitutional principle stemming from democracy’s earliest attempts to circumscribe
government’s power within the rule of law." - The passing‑on defence is not available.
- The protest and compulsion doctrine is not applicable.
- Limitation periods may be valid.
February 20, 2007 in Constitutional law | Permalink
