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Canadian Cases in Public International Law in 2022

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2023

Gib van Ert ,
Dahlia Shuhaibar  and
Leah West
Gib van Ert*
Affiliation:
Counsel, Olthuis van Ert, Ottawa and Vancouver, Canada
Dahlia Shuhaibar
Affiliation:
Counsel, Olthuis van Ert, Ottawa and Vancouver, Canada
Leah West
Affiliation:
Associate Professor at Norman Patterson School of International Affairs, Carleton, and Counsel at Friedman Mansour LLP, Ottawa, Canada
*
Corresponding author: Gib van Ert; Email: gvanert@ovcounsel.com
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Type
Cases/Jurisprudence
Information
Canadian Yearbook of International Law/Annuaire canadien de droit international , Volume 60 , November 2023 , pp. 387 - 410
Copyright
© The Canadian Yearbook of International Law/Annuaire canadien de droit international 2023

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References

1 Code criminel, LRC 1985, c C-46.

2 Charte canadienne des droits et libertés, partie I de la Loi constitutionnelle de 1982, constituant l’annexe B de la Loi de 1982 sur le Canada (R-U), 1982, c 11 [Charte].

3 R c Bissonnette, 2022 CSC 23, Motifs au para 82 [Bissonnette].

4 Ibid au para 96.

5 Ibid au para 98.

6 2020 CSC 32 [9147-0732 Québec].

7 Bissonnette, supra note 3 au para 98; R c Big M Drug Mart Ltd, [1985] 1 RCS 295.

8 Bissonnette, supra note 3 au para 99.

9 Charte des Nations Unies, 26 juin 1945, RT Can 1945 no 7 (entrée en vigueur: 24 octobre 1945).

10 Pacte international relatif aux droits civils et politiques, 16 December 1966, 999 RTNU 171, Can TS 1976 no 47 (entrée en vigueur: 23 March 1976).

11 Bissonnette, supra note 3 au para 100.

12 Statut de Rome de la Cour pénale internationale, 17 juillet 1998, 2187 RTNU 3 (entrée en vigueur: 1er juillet 2002).

13 Bissonnette, supra note 3 au paras 101–02.

14 Convention européenne des droits de l’homme, 4 November 1950, 213 RTNU 221 (entrée en vigueur: 3 September 1953).

15 Bissonnette, supra note 3 au para 104.

16 Ibid au paras 105–07.

17 Ibid au para 108.

18 Voir Renvoi relatif à la Public Service Employee Relations Act (Alberta) [1987] 1 RCS 313 à la pp 348–49 (une cause longuement étudiée dans 9147-0732 Québec, supra note 6, mais pas cité dans Bissonnette, supra note 3).

19 2020 CSC 5 au para 90.

20 Convention between the Government of Canada and the Swiss Federal Council for the Avoidance of Double Taxation with respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital, 5 May 1997, CanTS 1998 No 15 (entered into force 21 April 1998), as amended by the Protocol Amending the Convention between Canada and Switzerland for the Avoidance of Double Taxation with respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital, 22 October 2010, CanTS 2011 No 31 (entered into force 31 October 2013) [Canada-Switzerland Income Tax Convention].

21 Act to Implement Conventions Between Canada and Morocco, Canada and Pakistan, Canada and Singapore, Canada and the Philippines, Canada and the Dominican Republic and Canada and Switzerland for the Avoidance of Double taxation with respect to Income Tax, SC 1977, c 29, s 19; Tax Conventions Implementation Act, SC 2013, c 27, s 12.

22 Canada-Switzerland Income Tax Convention, Interpretative Protocol, para 2(b).

23 Levett v Canada (Attorney General), 2022 FCA 117 at paras 14–15 [Levett].

24 Ibid at para 24, quoting Crown Forest Industries Ltd v Canada, [1995] 2 SCR 802 at para 43.

25 Levett, supra note 23 at para 25.

26 Ibid at paras 26–28.

27 Ibid at paras 33–34.

28 RSC 1985, c C-42.

29 SC 2012, c 20.

30 Entertainment Software Association v Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, 2012 SCC 34.

31 World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty, 20 December 1996, Can TS 2014 No 20 (entered into force 6 March 2002).

32 Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada v Entertainment Software Association, 2022 SCC 30 at para 44.

33 Ibid at para 45.

34 Ibid at para 46.

35 Ibid.

36 Ibid at para 47.

37 Ibid at para 48.

38 Ibid at para 49.

39 Ibid at para 50.

40 Ibid at para 75.

41 Ibid at para 82.

42 Ibid at para 83.

43 Ibid at para 87.

44 Ibid at para 90.

45 Ibid at paras 89, 109.

46 Ibid at para 91.

47 Ibid at para 100.

48 Ibid at para 103.

49 Entertainment Software Association and another v Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada and Others, 2020 FCA 100 at para 89.

50 The two prior cases are National Corn Growers Assn v Canada (Import Tribunal), [1990] 2 SCR 1324 at 1371–72 and Crown Forest Industries Ltd v Canada, [1995] 2 SCR 802 at para 44.

51 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Part 1 of the Constitution Act, 1982, being Schedule B to the Canada Act 1982 (UK), 1982, c 11 [Charter].

52 The decision has since been overturned in part, but not on the aspects of interest in this comment. See Toussaint v Canada, 2023 ONCA 117. Unfortunately, Toussaint passed away between the Superior Court’s decision and the appeal decision, but it appears that her family intends to pursue the litigation in the public interest (at para 24). If it proceeds, a decision on the merits would likely analyze these issues further.

53 Toussaint v Canada (Attorney General), 2022 ONSC 4747 at para 28 [Toussaint]; Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 23 May 1969, 1155 UNTS 331, Can TS 1980 No 37 (entered into force 27 January 1980) [VCLT].

54 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 16 December 1966, 999 UNTS 171, Can TS 1976 No 47 (entered into force 23 March 1976).

55 Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 16 December 1966, 999 UNTS 171, Can TS 1976 No 47 (entered into force 23 March 1976).

56 Toussaint, supra note 53 at para 30.

57 Ibid at para 134.

58 Ibid at paras 135–38.

59 Nevsun Resources Ltd v Araya, 2020 SCC 5 [Nevsun Resources].

60 Toussaint, supra note 53 at para 189.

61 Ahani v Canada (Attorney General), 2002 CanLII 23589 (Ont CA).

62 Ibid at paras 2, 16, 31–35.

63 Toussaint, supra note 53 at para 199.

64 Ibid at para 200.

65 Elisabeth Eid & Hoori Hamboyan, “Implementation by Canada of Its International Human Rights Treaty Obligations: Making Sense Out of the Nonsensical” in O Fitzgerald, ed, The Globalized Rule of Law: Relationship between International and Domestic Law (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2006) 339 at 456.

66 Gib van Ert, “The Domestic Application of International Law in Canada” in Curtis A Bradley, ed, The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Foreign Relations Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019) 501 at 508.

67 [1987] 1 SCR 313.

68 Ibid at 350.

69 See e.g. 9147-0732 Québec, supra note 6 at para 39; Bissonnette, supra note 3 at para 100.

70 Committee against Torture, Communication No 327/2007, UN Doc CAT/C/47/D/327/2007 (2007) [Committee Decision].

71 Ibid at para 14.5.

72 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 10 December 1984, 1465 UNTS 85, Can TS 1987 No 36 (entered into force 26 June 1987) [Convention against Torture].

73 Committee Decision, supra note 70 at paras 14.6, 15.

74 Boily v Her Majesty the Queen, 2022 FC 1243 at para 42 [Boily].

75 Ibid at para 45.

76 Ibid at para 46.

77 Convention against Torture, supra note 72, arts 4 and 3, respectively.

78 Boily, supra note 74 at para 2, citing Suresh v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2022 SCC 1, and Bissonnette, supra note 3.

79 John H Currie, Public International Law, 2nd ed (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2008) at 175.

80 Suresh v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2002 SCC 1 at paras 49–75.

81 Boily, supra note 74 at para 45.

82 B010 v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2015 SCC 58 at para 47.

83 Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act, RSC 1985, c C-23 [CSIS Act].

84 In the Matter of an Application by […] for Warrants pursuant to Sections 12 and 21 of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act, RSC 1985, c C-23 and In the Matters of […] Threat-Related Activities, 2022 FC 1444 at paras 42–43; X (Re), 2017 FC 1047.

85 Re Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act, 2022 FC 1444 at paras 49–59 [Re CSIS Act].

86 Ibid at paras 149ff.

87 Ibid at paras 176–77.

88 2007 SCC 26 [Hape].

89 Ibid at paras 52, 113.

90 Re CSIS Act, supra note 85 at para 147.

91 2009 FC 160 at para 40–48 [Slahi], affirmed in Slahi v Canada (Justice), 2009 FCA 259, leave to appeal refused, 33409 (18 February 2010).

92 Re CSIS Act, supra note 85 at para 170.

93 Concerns have also been raised about Blanchard J’s application of the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in R v Khadr, 2008 SCC 28, particularly his conclusion that the “human rights exception” that triggers the Charter’s extraterritorial application does not apply to non-citizens. See Robert J Currie, “A Tale of Two Brothers: The Impact of the Khadr Cases on Canadian Anti-terrorism Law” in C Forcese & F Crépeau, eds, Terrorism, Law and Democracy: Ten Years after 9/11 (Montreal: Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice, 2012) 307.

94 Slahi, supra note 91 at para 43, citing R v Cook, [1998] 2 SCR 597 [Cook].

95 Cook, supra note 94 at para 86. The Supreme Court of Canada in Hape, supra note 88, summarizes L’Heureux-Dubé J’s dissenting opinion when canvasing prior jurisprudence on the Charter’s extraterritorial application but does not rely on it in its reasons.

96 Cook, supra note 94 at para 87.

97 2013 FC 377.

98 Ibid at para 75.

99 Re CSIS Act, supra note 85 at para 170.

100 Ibid at para 185.

101 Ibid at para 186, citing Michael Schmitt, ed, Tallinn Manual 2.0 on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Operations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017) at 169 [Tallinn Manual]; Craig Forcese, “Pragmatism and Principle: Intelligence Agencies and International Law” (2016) 102 Va L Rev 67 at 71–72.

102 Re CSIS Act, supra note 85.

103 Ibid at para 187.

104 Leah West “‘Within or Outside Canada’: The Charter’s Application to the Extraterritorial Activities of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service” (2023) 73 UTLJ 1 at 36.

105 Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act (Re), 2008 FC 301 at paras 42–53; X (Re), 2018 FC 738 at para 140; Canadian Security Intelligence Services Act (CA) (Re), 2020 FC 757. In X (Re), 2009 FC 1058 at para 74, Mosley J advanced the realist approach, explicitly disagreeing with Blanchard J’s 2008 decision. Citing Jack Goldsmith, a leading realist scholar, Mosley J concluded that the “norms of territorial sovereignty do not preclude the collection of information by one nation in the territory of another country, in contrast to the exercise of its enforcement jurisdiction.” Mosley J subsequently changed his position and adopted a formalist approach in X (Re), 2013 FC 1275. On appeal, the Federal Court of Appeal rejected the formalist approach.

106 X (Re), 2013 FC 1275, affirmed X (Re), 2014 FCA 249.

107 CSIS Act, supra note 83, s 21(3.1).

108 Forcese, supra note 101 at 69; Tallinn Manual, supra note 101, r 32.

109 Re CSIS Act, supra note 85 at para 193, citing X (Re), 2014 FA 249 at para 80.

110 “International Law Applicable in Cyberspace” (22 April 2022) online: Government of Canada, <www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/issues_development-enjeux_developpement/peace_security-paix_securite/cyberspace_law-cyberespace_droit.aspx?lang=eng>.

111 Re CSIS Act, supra note 85 at para 186.

112 Tallinn Manual, supra note 101, r 4.7.

113 Section 21(1) of the CSIS Act, supra note 83, stipulates that “the Director or employee may, after having obtained the Minister’s approval, make an application in accordance with subsection (2) to a judge for a warrant under this section.”

114 Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air, 28 May 1999, 2242 UNTS 309 (entered into force 4 November 2003) [Montreal Convention].

115 International Air Transport Association et al v Canadian Transportation Agency and the Attorney General of Canada, 2022 FCA 211 at para 83 [International Air Transport Association].

116 Ibid at paras 118–21, 135–42, 156–57; VCLT, supra note 53.

117 See e.g. Gib van Ert & Dahlia Shuhaibar, “Canadian Cases in Public International Law in 2020” (2020) 58 Can YB Intl L 580 at 596, n 91; Gib van Ert, Greg Allen & Eileen Patel, “Canadian Cases in Public International Law in 2010–11” (2011) 48 Can YB Intl L 519 at 549; Gib van Ert, “Canadian Cases in Public International Law in 2003–4” (2004) 41 Can YB Intl L 583 at 612–13.

118 International Air Transport Association, supra note 115 at para 45.

119 Ibid at paras 46–47, 64.

120 Ibid at para 65.

121 Ibid at para 48.

122 Ibid at paras 49, 87.

123 Ibid at para 52, citing Canada (Board of Internal Economy) v Canada (Attorney General), 2017 FCA 43 at para 18.

124 International Air Transport Association, supra note 115 at paras 59–60.

125 Ibid at para 66.

126 Ibid at para 67.

127 Ibid at para 68; VCLT, supra note 53.

128 International Air Transport Association, supra note 115 at para 47.

129 Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada v Entertainment Software Association, 2022 SCC 30 at para 47.

130 See e.g. Hape, supra note 88 at para 53 (which describes the presumption as applying to all Canadian international obligations, not limited to those that are expressly implemented in statutes).

131 Baker v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [1999] 2 SCR 817 at paras 69–71; Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65 at para 114.

132 Elisabeth Eid & Hoori Hamboyan, “Implementation by Canada of Its International Human Rights Treaty Obligations: Making Sense Out of the Nonsensical” in O Fitzgerald, ed, The Globalized Rule of Law: Relationship between International and Domestic Law (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2006) 339 at 456; Gib van Ert, “The Domestic Application of International Law in Canada” in Curtis A Bradley, ed, The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Foreign Relations Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019) 501 at 508.

133 International Air Transport Association, supra note 115 at para 53.

134 Nevsun Resources, supra note 59 at para 99.

135 Loi concernant les enfants, les jeunes et les familles des Premières Nations, des Inuits et des Métis, LC 2019, c 24

136 Loi constitutionnelle de 1982, constituant l’annexe B de la Loi de 1982 sur le Canada (R-U), 1982.

137 Loi constitutionnelle de 1867 (UK), 30–31 Vict, c 3.

138 UN GA Res 61/295 (13 September 2007).

139 Renvoi à la Cour d’appel du Québec relatif à la Loi concernant les enfants, les jeunes et les familles des Premières Nations, des Inuits et des Métis, 2022 QCCA 185 au para 507.

140 Ibid au para 512.

141 Ibid au para 509.

142 Ibid au para 513.

143 Ibid aux paras 60–61; R c Sparrow, [1990] 1 RCS 1075.

144 Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, 30 October 2016, online: <trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2014/september/tradoc_152806.pdf> (provisionally applied 21 September 2017).

145 Brazil – Measures Affecting Imports of Retreaded Tyres (Complaint by the European Communities), WTO Doc WT/DS332/AB/R (2007).