“Living document” repository of special legal measures introduced in Canada in response to COVID-19
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This week the Attorney General of New Zealand introduced new and novel legislation authorizing the imposition of Terrorism Suppression Control Orders on foreign terrorist travellers, returnees, individuals convicted of terrorism in foreign jurisdictions, and those who have been subject to immigration or citizenship consequences for security reasons connected to terrorism.
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Last week Canada added five new groups to Canada’s terrorist entities list, but the big news was that two of these groups were far right terrorist groups. Why is this a big deal? Leah West walks through the implications of terrorist entity listing under Canada’s criminal law.
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Bill C-59, the National Security Act 2017, is now back before the Commons to consider the (relatively minor) amendments proposed by the Senate. Baring a catastrophe, it should make it past this final Commons-Senate ping-pong and become law. “Becoming law” means “coming into force”. There are rules about coming into force, and I review how they apply to C-59 because: it’s complicated.
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Last week, Leah West addressed delegates at the 6th Open Government Partnership Global Summit hosted by Canada in Ottawa. She was asked to participate on a panel hosted by Public Safety Canada entitled: National Security Transparency: Expert Perspectives along with Wesley Wark, Christopher Parsons and Veronica Kitchen. The following is a copy of Leah’s remarks on the subject of “secret law.”
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The repatriation of Canada’s “foreign fighters” (more accurately called extremist or terrorist travelers, since not all engaged in combat) is one of the most contentious issues in Canada in terms of national security, and was once again in the news this past week. This post will outline one reason favouring repatriation: threat management.
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Lurking in the details of bill C-59 are new features in the law of evidence whose impact is uncertain. In this blog series, Leah West examines the new “class privilege” in the law of evidence created for those entities assisting CSE, and compares it the class privileges existing elsewhere in Canadian law, including under the CSIS Act.
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