The 74-year-old former judge continued working at his office at the Ottawa branch of law firm Stikeman Elliott until shortly before his death. Last year, he produced a major inquiry report on three wrongful murder convictions in Newfoundland study, and he was also acting as independent commissioner of the Communications Security Establishment, the national code-breaking agency.

Mr. Lamer was appointed to the court in 1980 and quickly won a reputation as a renowned legal reformer who was determined to breath life into the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

After the Charter was enacted in 1982, the first cases began to move up to the Supreme Court judge as Mr. Lamer was establishing his reputation. With the leadership of Chief Justice Brian Dickson and the assistance of Madame Justice Bertha Wilson, Judge Lamer breathed life into the Charter of Rights and Freedoms making into a living Constitutuion that would be used to strike down legislation and reform controversial areas of law.

When he retired in 1999 after being the court's chief justice for almost a decade, Mr. Lamer was strongly identified with the protection of the rights of the accused.