Nova ScotiaCanada’s top court has agreed to hear the appeals of two Nova Scotia men who say their Charter rights were violated when they endured lengthy lockdowns at a Dartmouth jail because of staffing shortages.Men spent long periods locked down in jail cells due to staffing shortagesBlair Rhodes · CBC News · Posted: Dec 06, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 4 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 2 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.The arrival area of the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Dartmouth is seen on Tuesday, May 15, 2018. The medium-security facility has capacity for 322 male and 48 female offenders. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)Canada’s top court has agreed to hear the appeals of two Nova Scotia men who say their Charter rights were violated when they endured lengthy lockdowns at a Dartmouth jail because of staffing shortages.The Supreme Court announced Thursday that it is granting leave to appeal to Ryan Taylor Wilband and Durrell Diggs.Both men were incarcerated at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, better known as the Burnside jail, in 2023 when chronic staffing shortages prevented jail staff from letting inmates out of their cells as they are supposed to.Wilband and Diggs filed what’s known as habeas corpus applications, a legal argument about illegal detention. Both men won their cases in Nova Scotia Supreme Court. Justice Peter Rosinski ruled the extended lockdowns were illegal.But the province appealed and earlier this year the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal overturned Rosinski’s decision.Halifax lawyer Hanna Garson, who represents both Diggs and Wilband, said this will be a first for the Supreme Court. “Rotational lockdowns in the form of solitary confinement have not been tested before the Supreme Court of Canada,” Garson said Friday.She said she’s hoping the court will give clear direction on whether these lockdowns are acceptable.”At the very least, a determination that indefinite lockdowns based on nothing to do with an individual’s own behaviour is unlawful and also that systemic issues are not shielded from review by habeas corpus.”Garson said these arguments are now moot in the case of Diggs and Wilband, who are no longer being held in the jail. But she said it is an important legal issue that has ramifications beyond just one Nova Scotia jail.She said staffing remains an issue at the Burnside facility, but the number of habeas corpus applications has tapered off.In a habeas corpus application, a judge assesses the conditions of a person’s confinement to determine whether their Charter rights have been violated and they should be granted a remedy, such as more time out of their cell.MORE TOP STORIESABOUT THE AUTHORBlair Rhodes has been a journalist for more than 40 years, the last 31 with CBC. His primary focus is on stories of crime and public safety. He can be reached at blair.rhodes@cbc.ca
Supreme Court of Canada to hear case of 2 former Dartmouth inmates
