November 10, 2011


Vancouver (Canada) - Fasken Martineau, a leading international business law and litigation firm, represented the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association in their recent interventions in the Insite case before the Supreme Court of Canada. Insite provides medical services to intravenous drug addicted individuals in Vancouver's impoverished Downtown Eastside neighbourhood. Both interveners were represented by Fasken Martineau on a pro bono basis.

The case has attracted widespread national and international media attention and has been described by media and academic commentators in Canada as a landmark constitutional decision. The Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation intervened in this case in support of continuing to make supervised injection services available. The Foundation argued that its experience with supervised injections showed that they are an integral part of delivering necessary health care to its participants who are HIV positive and who use injection drugs.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association argued that without Insite's exemption from federal drug laws, persons addicted to drugs had no other choice than to break the law. It intervened in this case to focus on the rights of the marginalized people who use this site, and it argued that the failure to grant an exemption was a breach of the section 7 Charter rights of the users of Insite in that it violated their right to life, liberty and security of the person.

The Supreme Court of Canada, in a unanimous decision of nine judges, sided with the position of the respondents, as supported by the interveners. The Court held that the failure of the federal government to grant the exemption did indeed violate the Charter rights of the users of Insite. The Supreme Court took the rare step of ordering mandamus and directing the government to issue the exemption.

Andrew Nathanson, Brook Greenberg and Holly Brinton, of the Firm's Litigation and Dispute Resolution group in Vancouver, advised the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation, while Paul Monahan, Tony Di Domenico, and Andrew Baerg, then student at law, of the Firm's Litigation and Dispute Resolution group in Toronto, assisted the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

Fasken Martineau's involvement on behalf of two clients before the Supreme Court of Canada in this important case demonstrates the firm's constitutional law expertise. It also highlights the pro bono efforts put in place nationally by Fasken Martineau in order to assist socially responsible causes within our communities.

"Fasken Martineau is proud to be engaged in contributing to the well being of the community. Advising organizations on a pro bono basis is a great way for our firm to ensure continued commitment to social responsibility," said David Corbett, Fasken Martineau's Managing Partner.

About Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP

Fasken Martineau is a leading international business law and litigation firm. With over 675 lawyers, the firm has offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal, Québec City, London, Paris and Johannesburg. For additional information, please visit the firm's website at www.fasken.com.