Canada Revises Indefinite Terror Jailing
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(AP) - Canada's government moved Monday to address a court ruling against one of its most contentious anti-terrorism measures, a law allowing authorities to detain foreign terrorism suspects indefinitely without disclosing evidence against them.
Stockwell Day, minister for public safety, said amendments to the law would provide suspects with a "special advocate" who would have access to evidence against them during court reviews of deportation orders.
Canada's Supreme Court struck down the detention law in February, saying it violated the Charter of Rights and Freedom, Canada's bill of rights.
The court said suspects should have the right to respond to evidence used against them by intelligence agents. But it suspended the judgment from taking effect for a year, to give Parliament time to rewrite the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Under proposed amendments, a special advocate _ appointed by the government _ would protect a detainee's interests by challenging evidence as well the relevance and weight of the facts.
"The special advocate may also make written and oral submissions to the court and cross-examine government witnesses," the government said in a statement explaining the legislation.
Proceedings would still remain secret. The advocate would be prohibited from discussing evidence with anyone, including the detainee.
Under the proposal, the Justice Ministry would establish a list of independent, qualified special advocates. They would need to have at least five years of legal experience, no conflicts of interest and appropriate security clearance.
The legislation also would give foreigners the right to have an initial detention review by a federal court judge within 48 hours of their detention.
Paul Copeland, a lawyer for two Arab men accused of terrorist links, said such a process could raise questions about the advocates' independence.
"Will it pass muster with the Supreme Court of Canada? I don't know," Copeland said.
A legislator in the opposition Liberal Party, Ujjal Dosanjh, said his party would support the bill in Parliament.
"We're not going to stand in the way. This is legislation that's needed and we need to move on," Dosanjh said.
Five Arab Muslims currently are accused of terrorist links under the affected law. All deny the charges. One remains in custody while the four other men have been released on strict bail conditions that amount to house arrest.
Indefinite detentions have been the law for decades, but their use became more contentious after the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the U.S. and especially after faulty intelligence collected by Canadian officials led to the mistaken detention of a suspect.
In that case, Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen born in Syria, was seized by U.S. authorities in New York and sent to his homeland for questioning about suspected ties to terrorists. He was held for a year and tortured before being returned to Canada.
An inquiry by Canada's government cleared him of any links to Islamic extremists. The government apologized and agreed to pay $9 million in compensation.