Appeal Watch is a new feature that profiles cases that have been recently granted or denied leave to appeal at the Supreme Court of Canada. SCC Refuses to Revisit Murder Mens Rea Standard In the years following the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the courts in Canada used their new-found power [...]

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a two-part series on the recent judgments the ONCA handed down addressing the post-9/11 terrorism laws. Just before recessing for the holidays, the Ontario Court of Appeal gave supporters of a “tough-on-crime” policy an early Christmas present.  In a string of six decisions released on December 17, 2010, [...]

As most readers are likely aware, Omar Khadr has been held at the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay as an enemy combatant since 2002. His trial before a US military commission is scheduled for August 10 of this year. He is charged with five offences: murder in the violation of the law of war, attempted [...]

On January 27, 2010, the UK Supreme Court struck down two UK Orders in Council that formed the entirety of the country’s terror financing and asset-freezing law (Her Majesty’s Treasury v. Mohammed Jabar Ahmed and others; Mohammed al-Ghabra; Hani El Sayed Sabaei Youssef ([2010] UKSC 2 & [2010] UKSC 5). The Court held the laws [...]

In September, Abousfian Abdelrazik filed a civil suit against federal government officials seeking damages for the violation of his s. 6 Charter rights. In a June decision, Zinn J. of the Federal Court, in ordering the federal government to effect Mr. Abdelrazik’s return home after he had lived in the Canadian Embassy in Khartoum for [...]