Observations on the Russian legal posture in the Ukraine conflict.
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We’re pleased to launch a new component of the growing INTREPID empire: mini-courses. Right now, we’ve put together around 5 hours of explainer video modules covering the basis of Canadian national security law. We may or may not make more courses, if we can persuade ourselves there is a business case for spending many hours doing so. But right now, our first mini-course is free and open for “enrolment” — “enrolment” means creating a sign-in account on the learning management platform we use. You can find the link under “University” in the menu above or here.
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Leah West and Craig Forcese are pleased to announce the publication of their treatise on national security law in Canada. It is available in print and in e-book format from Irwin Law.
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“Living document” repository of special legal measures introduced in Canada in response to COVID-19
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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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In February, the political class in Canada was preoccupied by “L’Affaire SNC-Lavalin” – the controversy over whether a prominent Québec company should be prosecuted for alleged overseas bribery, or instead dealt with under a Criminal Code remediation agreement. Lost in this discussion was the way Attorney General Ron Basford described the standards of attorney general independence in a 1978-1979 national security matter. This post revisits this forgotten case.
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Part of the focus during senate hearings on bill C-59 has been on the speech crime created by bill C-51 in 2015. Debate centers on whether the roll-back of this crime in C-59 is a good thing or not. This post provides an overview of the issues, and a discussion of alternatives.
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