     the supreme court of canada () is the highest court of canada, the final court of appeals in the canadian justice system. the court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts. its decisions are the ultimate expression and application of canadian law and binding upon all lower courts of canada. ==history==  the creation of the court was provided for by the british north america act, 1867, renamed in 1982 the constitution act, 1867. the first bills for the creation of a federal supreme court, introduced in the parliament of canada in 1869 and in 1870, were withdrawn. it was not until 8 april 1875 that a bill was finally passed providing for the creation of a supreme court of canada. thumb|left|old courthouse building prior to 1949, however, the supreme court did not constitute the court of last resort; litigants could appeal to the judicial committee of the privy council in london. as well, some cases could bypass the court and go directly to the judicial committee from the provincial courts of appeal. the supreme court of canada formally became the court of last resort for criminal appeals in 1933 and for all other appeals in 1949. the last decisions of the judicial committee on cases from canada were made in the mid-1950s, as a result of their being heard in a court of first instance prior to 1949. the increase in the importance of the court was mirrored by the numbers of its members. the court was established first with six judges, and these were augmented by an additional member in 1927. it was in 1949 that the bench reached its current composition, of nine justices. prior to 1949, most of the appointees to the supreme court of canada owed their position to political patronage. each judge had strong ties to th
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