This time, we’re reviewing the data on the Court’s tort docket for the years 2000 through 2009.

The Court’s overall reversal rate in tort cases was down somewhat from the nineties.  Only 50% of the tort cases in 2000 were reversed.  The reversal rate was down to 44.44% in 2001 and 42.86% in 2002.  It jumped to 62.5% in 2003 and was 50% in 2004.  The reversal rate fell to 28.57% in 2005.  For the rest of the decade, the reversal rate was around baseline level: 50% in 2006, 41.67% in 2007, 40% in 2008 and two-thirds in 2009.

The Court decided 33 tort cases between 2000 and 2009 which were won by the defendants at the Court of Appeal.  The Court decided 42 plaintiffs’ wins.  For the decade, only 36.36% of the defendants’ wins were reversed in whole or in part at the Supreme Court.  On the other hand, 54.76% of plaintiffs’ wins were reversed.

Next time, we’ll continue reviewing the data for the years 2000-2009.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Ken Lund (no changes).