42 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 2 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Exclusive to OpEd News:
OpEdNews Op Eds    H4'ed 12/26/12

Designation and publication

By       (Page 1 of 2 pages)   1 comment
Message David Matas


Governments should obey the law. Yet, the temptation of government officials to engage in vigilantism in order to

appear tough on crime and get at what officials portray as the bad guys is sometimes overwhelming. The law goes

by the wayside.

 

A case in point is the December 5th press release by Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and Immigration Minister Jason Kenny announcing the designation of five groups under the recent amendments to the Immigration legislation.   The groups were designated as irregular arrivals.   The designation was touted as an action against human smuggling.

 

The designations encompassed 85 individuals, 50 adults and 35 children.   The night prior to the announcement, the Government arrested 30 of the eighty five.   The individuals were reported to have crossed sometime earlier the Canadian US border at an unmanned border crossing at Stanstead Quebec, temporarily detained, made refugee protection claims, and then released.   They are all nationals of Romania.  

 

The law for the non-designated requires for those detained a review after 48 hours, then seven days, then every thirty days.   With detention review, an independent tribunal, the Immigration Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board, determines if the detention meets legal standards.   Detainees are to be released unless they are a danger to the public, are unlikely to appear for further proceedings or their identity is unknown.

 

Under the new designation system, detention review is less frequent.   The first detention review follows 14 days after arrest, and every six months after that. The grounds of release are more restrictive.

 

The Government applied the new law to the thirty arrested the evening of December 4 th . Those whom the Government did not release after arrest were detained under the new law.   They were not given detention reviews after 48 hours.   The Government rather offered them detention reviews after fourteen days.

 

Designation of a group has the effect, in addition to prolonged detention, of denying appeals from the refugee claim refusals and preventing family reunification and travel documents for years after refugee claim acceptance.    The effects of designation are arguably unconstitutional, a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as arbitrary detention, a denial of fundamental justice and cruel and unusual treatment.    Even before one gets to those issues, there was something very wrong with what the Government did, throwing individuals in jail without the detention review the current law requires on the basis of a press announcement alone.  

 

Next Page  1  |  2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Must Read 1   Well Said 1   Valuable 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

David Matas Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

David Matas is an international human rights, immigration and refugee lawyer in Winnipeg Manitoba Canada
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Designation and publication

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend