From IPS News
By William Fisher

In stark contrast to last week’s U.S. court decision upholding the Military Commissions Act, Canada’s court has unanimously struck down a law that would allow the Canadian government to use secret evidence to detain foreign-born terror suspects indefinitely without charges or open court hearings.

“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,” wrote Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin in last Friday’s landmark ruling.

And in a further blow to hard-line lawmakers, the Canadian Parliament voted last night not to renew provisions of the law granting the government the power to detain and interrogate terrorism suspects without court hearings.

ommenting on the court’s decision, Mary Shaw of Amnesty International USA told IPS, “These developments in Canada illustrate that our northern neighbours are rejecting knee-jerk reactions to the threat of terrorism in favour of a more reasonable approach that protects the Canadian people while also upholding human rights and international legal standards.”

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