Citizenship and Immigration
Feher v Canada: Strike Three Against the “Safe Country” List in Canada's Refugee Law
Until late March 2019, when Justice Keith Boswell struck down s.112(2)(b.1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, SC 2001, c 27 [IRPA], refugee claimants from certain “designated” countries were required to wait for two years longer compared to all other refugee claimants for a risk assessment of their removal from Canada. Two weeks ago in Feher v […]
Tran v Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness) : Bringing Cohesion Between Criminal Sentencing and Immigration Law
In Tran v Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness) 2017 SCC 50 [Tran], the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) applied principles of statutory interpretation to answer two questions: First, does a ‘term of imprisonment’ under section 36(1)(a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, SC 2011, c 27 [IRPA] include conditional sentences? Second, is the […]
Veils, Oaths, and Canadian Citizenship: Ishaq v Canada
On February 6, 2015, in the well-publicized decision of Ishaq v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2015 FC 156 [Ishaq], the Federal Court ruled that it was unlawful for the Canadian Government to ban new citizens from reciting the citizenship oath with a face-covering veil. Since the decision was released, the Harper Government has […]
Reworking Canadian Immigration Security Detention in Light of Charkaoui v Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada's ("SCC") decision in Charkaoui v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2007 SCC 9 [Charkaoui], may represent an important turning point in Canada's approach to national security, particularly when it is read as a strong statement in support of procedural fairness, a concept that has suffered internationally in the post-September 11 context. The SCC's rulings […]
The Charkaoui Decision, International Human Rights, and Canadian National Self-Image: A Blow to “Security Relativism”?*
The Supreme Court of Canada's ("SCC") decision in Charkaoui v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2007 SCC 9, is notable not just for its depth, but also for the range of issues that it considers and deals with. Its main conclusion is, of course, that portions of the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, SC 2001, c […]
Charkaoui's Implications for Canada's Anti-terrorism Act
The Supreme Court of Canada's ("SCC") ruling in Charkaoui v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2007 SCC 9, striking down the procedures for the review of Security Certificates under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, SC 2001, c 27 [IRPA], has implications in a number of different security-related contexts.1 Of immediate interest is whether the Supreme Court's decision has any significance […]
Comment on Charkaoui v Canada
Secret hearings to justify the issuance of security certificates and the detention of persons named in them, have been struck down. In an extraordinary, unanimous decision authored by the Chief Justice, the Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional the statutory scheme in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that required review of certificates and detention to […]