Canada's Hate Speech Law has just been declared unconstitutional. I say "declared" rather than ruled, because the "Human Rights Tribunal" did it itself, and it's famously not a real court.

However, it's not impossible for a the head of a government body to wake up one morning, smack himself on the forehead, and say "My goodness! This law they've given me to enforce is unconstitutional!" Do not hold your breath waiting for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to do this.

Hate speech law unconstitutional: rights tribunal

Joseph Brean, National Post,September 02, 2009

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has ruled that Section 13, Canada's much maligned human rights hate speech law, is an unconstitutional violation of the Charter right to free expression because of its penalty provisions.

The decision released this morning by Tribunal chair Athanasios Hadjis appears to strip the Canadian Human Rights Commission of its controversial legal mandate to pursue hate on the Internet, which it has strenuously defended against complaints of censorship.

It also marks the first major failure of Section 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act, an anti-hate law that was conceived in the 1960s to target racist telephone hotlines, then expanded in 2001 to the include the entire Internet, and for the last decade used almost exclusively by one complainant, activist Ottawa lawyer Richard Warman.[More]

For some background on this, see Kathy Shaidle's First They Came For… Canadian "Hate Speech" Totalitarianism Is Not New and check this Kathy Shaidle post for updates.