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Internal dissent over major cases is increasingly dividing the Supreme Court of Canada, with some justices resorting to sharp criticisms of majority decisions they believe intrude on Parliament’s authority to set public policy, according to a review of the court’s 2015 judgments.

The analysis by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, an Ottawa public policy think-tank, also finds the court continuing to overrule its own recent Charter decisions, again with the express disapproval of some of its members. The most recent example was last February’s judgment decriminalizing doctor-assisted suicide.

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Some legal observers fear the reversal trend could lead lower courts to second-guess just how binding Supreme Court decisions are, especially on highly charged social and moral issues.

The new review by Benjamin Perrin, former legal adviser to then-prime minister Stephen Harper and a one-time Supreme Court clerk, is titled Dissent From Within and chronicles a court deeply divided.