Supreme Court Recognizes Tort of Negligent Investigation
Canada March 10 2008
On October 4, 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in Hill v. Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Police Services Board. The Supreme Court dismissed Mr. Hill’s appeal from the decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, and, in a 6-3 decision, affirmed the Court of Appeal’s decision that a cause of action for negligent police investigations does exist at law.
In December 1994 and January 1995, there were ten robberies of financial institutions in Hamilton. In each case the modus operandi was essentially the same and eyewitnesses provided similar descriptions of the suspect. This led the police to conclude that the same person committed all ten robberies. Mr. Hill became a suspect after the police received a Crimestoppers tip about him subsequent to the seventh robbery. A police constable also identified Mr. Hill from a surveillance photograph taken during the fifth robbery. Ultimately, only one of the...