Doreen C. Mueller

The Court decided that under s. 20(a) of the International Transfer of Offenders Act, Omar Ahmed Khadr’s eight-year sentence could not be treated as five distinct concurrent eight-year sentences for placement purposes.

It held that the statutory scheme required placement in a provincial correctional facility and confirmed the Alberta Court of Appeal’s order.

The appeal was dismissed with costs.

The respondent, a Canadian citizen, was detained by U.S. authorities at Guantanamo Bay.

Canadian intelligence officials interviewed him, knowing he had been subjected to sleep deprivation, and shared the information with U.S. authorities.

The respondent sought an order requiring the Canadian government to request his repatriation.

The Supreme Court of Canada held that the conduct of Canadian officials violated the respondent's rights under s. 7 of the Charter.

However, the Court concluded that ordering the government to request repatriation was not an appropriate remedy, as it unduly interfered with the Crown prerogative over foreign affairs.

Instead, the Court granted a declaration that the respondent's Charter rights were violated, leaving it to the government to determine how best to respond.

The parties filed several motions in the context of an appeal regarding disclosure of materials to a detainee at Guantanamo Bay.

The respondent sought a sealing order to file fresh evidence obtained from U.S. proceedings, which was granted with conditions to allow the panel hearing the appeal to determine its admissibility.

The appellants moved to strike portions of the respondent's factum and the entirety of two interveners' factums, arguing the submissions lacked factual basis, were non-justiciable, and raised new issues.

The Court dismissed the motions to strike, holding that these objections should be argued before the panel hearing the main appeal.

The respondent, a Canadian citizen detained at Guantanamo Bay, sought disclosure of records of interviews conducted by Canadian officials with him and shared with U.S. authorities.

The Supreme Court of Canada held that the Charter applied to the Canadian officials' actions because the process at Guantanamo Bay violated Canada's binding international human rights obligations.

Under section 7 of the Charter, Canada has a duty to disclose the records of the interviews and any information given to U.S. authorities as a direct consequence, subject to national security and other considerations under the Canada Evidence Act.