The sec­ond main build­ing I vis­ited as part of the Ottawa 2010 Doors Open event is the Supreme Court. Located on Par­lia­ment Hill, the impos­ing grey build­ing sits in the back­ground, close to the Ottawa River.

The Supreme Court of Canada is the high­est court of Canada and is the final court of appeal in the Cana­dian jus­tice sys­tem. To have per­mis­sion to appeal a deci­sion made by a provin­cial or ter­ri­to­r­ial court, the mat­ter must be of pub­lic impor­tance. Immi­gra­tion cases can some­times be taken to the Supreme Court, such as in Canada (Cit­i­zen­ship and Immi­gra­tion) v. Khosa or Baker v. Canada (Min­is­ter of Cit­i­zen­ship and Immi­gra­tion). Other famous cases tack­les equal­ity, dis­crim­i­na­tion, dig­nity, rights etc.  

The build­ing is cur­rently under­go­ing ren­o­va­tion (yes, it is con­struc­tion sea­son after all!), so I entered by the small door. Right after going through secu­rity, I stepped into the Grand Entrance Hall, with the logo of the Supreme Court, the “S” and the “C”.

The sec­ond floor has the Main Court­room, an impres­sive room with wooden walls and red chairs. The fed­eral court of Canada is located on the ground floor and has a sim­i­lar design, even though it seemed smaller. Over­all, the atmos­phere was very for­mal and solemn. An inter­est­ing place to visit, hope­fully I will never be any­more more than a vis­i­tor here!

You can see the full Doors Open 2010 set here.

Out­side the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Canada

The Supreme Court Building

The Main Hall

The Main Door (yes, ren­o­va­tion are underway!)	The Main Hall
Law Clerks Desk	Chairs and Desks in the Main Courtroom

The Main Courtroom

Grand Entrance Hall

The Fed­eral Court

The Sec­ond Floor

Ottawa

Related arti­cles:

1. Doors Open Ottawa
2. 1, Sus­sex Drive
3. Rideau Hall
4. Fall Sky
5. Build­ing Reflections