Charkaoui v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration)
| Charkaoui v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) | |
|---|---|
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| Hearing: June 13–14, 2006 Judgment: February 23, 2007 |
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| Full case name | Adil Charkaoui v Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness; Hassan Almrei v Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness; Mohamed Harkat v Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and Attorney General of Canada |
| Citations | 2007 SCC 9 |
| Docket No. | 30929 |
| Prior history | Charkaoui History: reversing [2005] 2 F.C.R. 299, 247 D.L.R. (4th) 405, 328 N.R. 201, 126 C.R.R. (2d) 298, 42 Imm. L.R. (3d) 165, [2004] F.C.J. No. 2060 (QL), 2004 FCA 421 (F.C.A.D.); affirming [2004] 3 F.C.R. 32, 253 F.T.R. 22, 38 Imm. L.R. (3d) 56, [2003] F.C.J. No. 1816 (QL), 2003 FC 1419 (F.C.T.D.). Almrei history: reversing [2005] 3 F.C.R. 42, 251 D.L.R. (4th) 13, 330 N.R. 73, 45 Imm. L.R. (3d) 163, [2005] F.C.J. No. 213 (QL), 2005 FCA 54 (F.C.A.D.); affirming [2004] 4 F.C.R. 327, 249 F.T.R. 53, 38 Imm. L.R. (3d) 117, [2004] F.C.J. No. 509 (QL), 2004 FC 420 (F.C.T.D.). Harkat history: also reversing (2005), 340 N.R. 286, [2005] F.C.J. No. 1467 (QL), 2005 FCA 285 (F.C.A.D.); affirming (2005), 261 F.T.R. 52, 45 Imm. L.R. (3d) 65, [2005] F.C.J. No. 481 (QL), 2005 FC 393 (F.C.T.D.). |
| Ruling | Appeals allowed |
| Holding | |
| Sections 33, 77 and 85 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) unreasonably violates sections 7, 9 and 10 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. | |
| Court Membership | |
| Reasons given | |
| Unanimous reasons by | McLachlin C.J. |
| Laws Applied | |
| Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, ss. 7, 9, 10; Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c. 27, ss. 33, 77 to 85 | |
Charkaoui v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2007 SCC 9, is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on the constitutionality of procedures for determining the reasonableness of a security certificate and for reviewing detention under a certificate. The Court held that the security certificate process, which prohibited the named individual from examining evidence used to issue the certificate, violated the right to liberty and habeas corpus under section 7, 9 and 10 of the Canadian Charter. The Court however rejected the appellant arguments that the extension of detentions violated the right against indefinite detention, that the differential treatment violated equality rights, and that the detention violated the rule of law. As remedy, the Court declared the "judicial confirmation of certificates and review of detention" to be of no force and effect, striking down articles 33 and 77 to 85 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, but suspended the ruling for one year.
In 2003, Adil Charkaoui, a permanent resident in Canada since 1995, was arrested and imprisoned under a security certificate issued by the Solicitor General of Canada (then Wayne Easter) and the Minister of Immigration (then Denis Coderre). The evidence upon which the certificate was issued is secret, disclosed neither to Charkaoui nor his lawyers. Public summaries of the evidence issued by the Federal Court alleged a connection with "the bin Laden network". Charkaoui appealed his detention three times before being released on the fourth try in February 2005, having spent almost two years in Rivière-des-Prairies prison in Montreal. He was released under severely restrictive bail conditions. Charkaoui has never been charged or tried. The certificate against Charkaoui has never undergone any judicial review; the Federal Court suspended its review process in March 2005, pending a new decision from the Minister of Immigration on Charkaoui's deportability (a decision which evaluates, inter alia, risk to Mr. Charkaoui).
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