Miller v R

Miller v R [1977] 2 SCR 680 is a Canadian Bill of Rights decision of the Supreme Court of Canada where the Criminal Code provisions relating to the death penalty were challenged as a violation of the right against "cruel and unusual" punishment under section 2(b) of the Bill of Rights.

Miller et al. v. The Queen
Supreme Court of Canada
Hearing: June 22, 1976 Judgment: October 5, 1976
Full case name	John Harvey Miller and Vincent John Roger Cockriell Appellants; and Her Majesty The Queen Respondent.
Citations	Miller et al. v. The Queen, 1976 CanLII 12 (SCC), [1977] 2 SCR 680, <https://canlii.ca/t/1mx57>, retrieved on 2022-06-12
Court membership
Reasons given

Justice Laskin, for the majority, upheld the laws. He interpreted the phrase "cruel and unusual" in the context of its origin in the English Bill of Rights and the US Eighth Amendment, which only limited the means of carrying out a death sentence.

Some of the definition given to cruel and unusual punishments in this case later shaped the jurisprudence carried out under section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

See also

• List of Supreme Court of Canada cases

External links

• Full text available at Canlii.org [1] and Lexum [2]