The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia has struck down landmark legislation former premier Stephen McNeil’s government used in an effort to restrain wage increases for public sector workers as it attempted to balance the provincial budget.

In a decision issued to the involved parties on Friday, Justice Ann E. Smith ruled that Bill 148, the Public Services Sustainability Act, is unconstitutional, writing that the bill “substantially interfered” with the applicant unions’ charter right to a process of good faith collective bargaining.

“The government has failed to demonstrate that Bill 148 amounted to a reasonable limit on that right,” the decision says.