Today, the Supreme Court of Canada released its unanimous judgment in Charkaoui v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration). Xaidsart lawyer Owen Rees appeared as co-counsel for Amnesty International to challenge the Canadian Security Intelligence Service‘s policy of systematically destroying its operational notes. The Court held that the CSIS Act and s. 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms requires CSIS to retain its operational notes when conducting an investigation that targets an individual or group. The Court also held that CSIS was required to disclose its operational notes in security certificate proceedings to the Ministers, to the judge and, once vetted for national security, to the person subject to the proceedings.
