Don’t get me wrong, this is a win and worthy of setting a legal precedent, however I am skeptical of the first line in the article:
Earlier this year in Halifax, a former sex worker won a precedent-setting case.
If this was Small Claims court, are there examples of rulings from this court actually setting precedent for other courts (e.g. Lower or Superior courts)?
I guess the significant thing is that the judge ruled this way based on current laws and past legal precedent which should hopefully be consistent in future cases.
But part of the immediate significance of the judgment, advocates say, is that it happened in a court that’s relatively accessible; the law has been clarified that at the small-claims level, a contract for sexual services is enforceable.
That means that a sex worker who hasn’t been paid by a client can now pursue that in small claims court without having to argue the law, so long as they have the supporting facts.
“Now they can bring this judgment and put it on the judges desk and say, ‘here it is, there’s precedent for it; I want my judgment,’” said Rose.
Note that this is a quote by the plaintiff’s lawyer (Jessica Rose). I’m obviously no lawyer myself but I would read this as precedent-setting for the Small Claims Court of Nova Scotia, with the caveat that other provinces’ small claims courts and all higher courts are still lacking their own ruling here. Ultimately the law itself needs to be tested in higher courts, which is also referenced in the article:
In 2021, the alliance sued the federal and Ontario provincial governments, arguing that the conditions of criminalization allow exploitation to flourish. That case had its first hearing in October 2022, and is awaiting a judgment. If successful, it could result in the law being struck down, paving the path to full decriminalization of sex work.
Don’t get me wrong, this is a win and worthy of setting a legal precedent, however I am skeptical of the first line in the article:
If this was Small Claims court, are there examples of rulings from this court actually setting precedent for other courts (e.g. Lower or Superior courts)?
I guess the significant thing is that the judge ruled this way based on current laws and past legal precedent which should hopefully be consistent in future cases.
This was my main concern. Legal rulings are built on those that came before, however they can also be reversed by higher courts.
I found this complementary CBC article on this that provides a little bit of clarity:
Note that this is a quote by the plaintiff’s lawyer (Jessica Rose). I’m obviously no lawyer myself but I would read this as precedent-setting for the Small Claims Court of Nova Scotia, with the caveat that other provinces’ small claims courts and all higher courts are still lacking their own ruling here. Ultimately the law itself needs to be tested in higher courts, which is also referenced in the article:
It’s lower level precedence, but it’s still precedence. Another court at the same level would be inclined to follow this precedence.