The appellants, who had been in immigration detention for lengthy periods awaiting deportation, brought applications for habeas corpus in the Ontario Superior Court.
The application judge declined jurisdiction, finding that the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) provided a comprehensive statutory review mechanism as broad and advantageous as habeas corpus.
The Court of Appeal allowed the appeals, holding that where the legality of a continuing lengthy detention of uncertain duration is challenged, the IRPA review process is less broad and less advantageous than habeas corpus.
The Court found that habeas corpus places the onus on the Minister to justify the detention and is available as of right, unlike the discretionary judicial review process under the IRPA.
