Security certificate

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In Canada, a security certificate is a legal mechanism by which the Canadian government can detain and deport permanent residents and all other non-citizens (i.e., foreign nationals) living in Canada.^[1][2]

It is authorized within the parameters of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA; which replaced the Immigration Act, 1976), specifically sections 33 and 77 to 85.^[3] It was amended and took on its present structure in 1991, with an additional amendment in 2002. According to Public Safety Canada, the overarching agency dealing with the law, the security certificate provision has existed in "one form or another for over 20 years."^[4] Its use has been documented at least as far back as 1979,^[5] the year after they were implemented.^[1][6] Since 1991, only 27 individuals have been subject to certificate proceedings.^[1]

The federal government may issue a certificate naming a foreign national or any other non-citizen suspected of violating human rights, of having membership within organized crime, or is perceived to be a threat to national security.^[7] Subjects of a certificate are inadmissible to Canada and are subject to a removal order.^[8] Where the government has reasonable grounds to believe that the individual named in the certificate is a danger to national security, to the safety of any person or is unlikely to participate in any court proceedings, the individual can be detained.^[9] The entire process is subject to a limited form of review by the Federal Court.

On 23 February 2007, the security certificate process was found to be in violation of sections 7, 9, and 10 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada in the landmark Charkaoui case. The Supreme Court suspended the effect of its ruling for one year. On October 22 that year, the Harper government introduced a bill to amend the security certificate process by introducing a "special advocate," lawyers who would be able to view the evidence against the accused. However, these lawyers would be selected by the Justice minister, would only have access to a "summary" of the evidence, and would not be allowed to share this information with the accused, for example in order to ask for clarifications or corrections.^[10] The amendments are modelled on a much-criticized process already in use in the United Kingdom.^{[citation needed]} The bill amending Canada's security certificate regime, with support from the Conservatives and the opposition Liberal Party, was passed by Parliament and received Royal Assent in February 2008, just days before the court-imposed deadline.^{[citation needed]}

In its 2014 decision for Mohamed Harkat following Charkaoui v Canada, the Supreme Court found the framework to protect classified information in immigration proceedings to be consistent with the Charter.^[1]