Top Five 2008: Canada (Justice) v Khadr

Each year at OJEN’s Toronto Summer Law Institute, a judge from the Court of Appeal for Ontario identifies five cases that are of significance in the educational setting. This summary, based on these comments and observations, is appropriate for discussion and debate in the classroom setting.

Canada (Justice) v Khadr, 2008 SCC 28, [2008] 2 SCR 125

The accused is a Canadian detained by the United States at Guantanamo Bay.  The Supreme Court of Canada was asked to determine whether Canadian officials needed to comply with the Charter in an interrogation of the accused at Guantanamo.  The Supreme Court held that the Charter could be applied outside of Canada because the United States’ actions at Guantanamo were in breach of international law. Khadr is the latest in a series of cases to address the application of the Charter to the actions of Canadian officials abroad.The full decision is available here.