Canada s Supreme Court ruled Friday that the government cannot detain foreign terrorism suspects indefinitely without charge. The Justice Department had insisted that the security certificate program was a crucial part of national security, but the court ruled unanimously that the system violates Canada s Charter of Rights and Freedom. The court suspended the judgment from taking effect for a year, to give Parliament time to rewrite the legislation. The system was challenged on constitutional grounds by three men from Morocco, Syria and Algeria. All three have been accused by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service of having ties to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. The process allows the detention of non-citizens on the basis of evidence that is turned over only in summary form to defense lawyers. Foreigners that choose to fight deportation can risk years of imprisonment and the designation of terrorist if they are released. The overarching principle of fundamental justice that applies here is this: before the state can detain people for significant periods of time, it must accord them a fair judicial process, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote in the ruling. The program has been around since the 1970s but its use has become more controversial since its application to terror suspects. In particular, the system has come under scrutiny after Canadian authorities admitted that flawed intelligence led to the deportation of a Canadian citizen Maher Arar to Syria, where he says he was tortured. Five Arab Muslim men currently stand accused of terrorist links under the certificates. All deny any ties to terrorism, but it remains unclear whether the three who are in detention will be released or remain in prison until the system is reshaped.
