Halifax Court House
[Image:Halifax Court House.JPG|right|250px|thumb|The Halifax Court House]
The Halifax Court House is a historic building in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia. Its main section was completed in 1863, with the east wing, built in 1930, being the newest portion. The Italian Renaissance style building was designed by William Thomas, a Toronto architect who created prominent structures across Canada, and built by George Lang.
The building was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1969. It was also listed as a Provincially Registered Property under Nova Scotia's Heritage Property Act in 1983.
Nova Scotia Supreme Court sat for the first time in the newly built Halifax County courthouse on Spring Garden Road in October 1860 and continued using it until 1960 when the building temporarily became the Provincial Library and then the home of the Provincial Court in 1971. The most recent renovations to the building were completed in 1985.
Building
By the 1850s a decision was made to consolidate all the Halifax courts under one roof. After fires razed many downtown buildings during that decade and 1930 to offer additional courtrooms and office space that are now occupied by the Provincial Crown and Judges' Chambers.Today the court houses six courtrooms, judges chambers, court administration offices, the Provincial Crown and cells that can jail up to 50 prisoners. The historic character of the Courthouse remain today and ongoing renovations and upgrades are designed ensure that they honour the original architecture design while at the same time providing efficient modern-day court functions.
The Courthouse has been designated as an historic site of national significance by the Historic Sites and Monument Board.
Halifax Explosion
A collision occurred on December 6, 1917 in Halifax Harbour between the vessels, SS Mont-Blanc and SS Imo and resulted in a blast that decimated the district known as Richmond, in the North End of the city. The courthouse suffered $19,000 in damage even though it was farther to the south. At the time, Nova Scotia Supreme Court cases were heard in court room #2 on the second floor, east side of the stairwell. Courtroom #1 was used for everything else including Admiralty Court. The walls of the court room itself had sustained some damage and the blown out windows were boarded up. Purportedly, oil lamps were used because the power was out.A judicial inquiry known as the Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry was formed to investigate the causes of the collision. Proceedings began at the courthouse on 13 December 1917, presided over by Justice Arthur Drysdale. The inquiry's report of 4 February 1918 blamed Mont-Blancs captain, Aimé Le Médec, the ship's pilot, Francis Mackey, and Commander F. Evan Wyatt, the Royal Canadian Navy's chief examining officer in charge of the harbour, gates and anti-submarine defences, for causing the collision. All three men were charged with manslaughter and criminal negligence at a preliminary hearing heard by Stipendiary Magistrate Richard A. McLeod, and bound over for trial. However, a Nova Scotia Supreme Court justice, Benjamin Russell found there was no evidence to support these charges. Mackey was discharged on a writ of habeas corpus and the charges dropped. As the captain and pilot had been arrested on the same warrant, the charges against Le Médec were also dismissed. This left only Wyatt to face a grand jury hearing. On 17 April 1918, a jury acquitted him in a trial that lasted less than a day.
Drysdale also oversaw the first civil litigation trial, in which the owners of the two ships sought damages from each other. His decision found Mont-Blanc entirely at fault. Subsequent appeals to the Supreme Court of Canada, and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, determined Mont-Blanc and Imo were equally to blame for navigational errors that led to the collision. No party was ever convicted for any crime or otherwise successfully prosecuted for any actions that precipitated the disaster.