Date: 20090325
Docket: DES-7-08
Citation: 2009 FC 316
Ottawa, Ontario, March 25, 2009
PRESENT:
The Honourable Mr. Justice Simon Noël
BETWEEN:
IN THE MATTER OF a certificate signed pursuant to section 77(1) of the Immigration and Refugee
Protection Act (IRPA);
AND IN THE MATTER OF the referral of a certificate to the Federal Court pursuant to section
77(1) of the IRPA;
AND IN THE MATTER OF Mohamed Zeki MAHJOUB
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
[1]
On November 20, 2008, the Special
Advocates (SAs) forwarded to the Court a request for disclosure to counsel for
Mr. Mahjoub of the substance, month, and year of any conversations in which Mr.
Mahjoub was a participant, the substance, month, and year of any reports of
surveillance of Mr. Mahjoub in Canada that were relied upon by the Ministers in
the confidential Security Intelligence Report (SIR). Counsel for the Ministers
consented to this request and they have filed the results of the disclosure
that were reviewed by the Special Advocates. Some summaries submitted do not
raise concerns of a private nature, and they will be forwarded to Mr. Mahjoub
and his Counsel, and comprise part of the public record. Other summaries may
raise privacy concerns which require a different procedure to be followed.
[2]
While the Immigration and
Refugee Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c. 27 (IRPA) does not provide for
a procedure allowing for disclosure only to the interested person and counsel (Harkat
(Re), 2009 FC 167), the Court is cognizant that counsel for Mr. Mahjoub may
wish to make argument regarding the public filing of some of the summaries of
conversations, on the basis that they may engage privacy concerns that could be
protected by human rights legislation and the Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms.
[3]
As the Court has determined that for the
purposes of these proceedings, there is no national security reason to withhold
the summaries as written from Mr. Mahjoub, his only option is to seek a
confidentiality order pursuant to Rules 151 and 152 of the Federal Courts
Rules which provide:
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151. (1) On motion, the
Court may order that material to be filed shall be treated as confidential.
(2) Before making an order
under subsection (1), the Court must be satisfied that the material should be
treated as confidential, notwithstanding the public interest in open and
accessible court proceedings.
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151. (1) La Cour peut, sur requête, ordonner que
des documents ou éléments matériels qui seront déposés soient considérés
comme confidentiels.
(2) Avant de rendre une ordonnance en application du
paragraphe (1), la Cour doit être convaincue de la nécessité de considérer
les documents ou éléments matériels comme confidentiels, étant donné
l’intérêt du public à la publicité des débats judiciaires.
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152. (1) Where the material is required by law to be treated
confidentially or where the Court orders that material be treated
confidentially, a party who files the material shall separate and clearly
mark it as confidential, identifying the legislative provision or the Court
order under which it is required to be treated as confidential.
(2)
Unless otherwise ordered by the Court,
(a) only a
solicitor of record, or a solicitor assisting in the proceeding, who is not a
party is entitled to have access to confidential material;
(b) confidential
material shall be given to a solicitor of record for a party only if the
solicitor gives a written undertaking to the Court that he or she will
(i) not disclose its
content except to solicitors assisting in the proceeding or to the Court in
the course of argument,
(ii) not permit it to be
reproduced in whole or in part, and
(iii) destroy the
material and any notes on its content and file a certificate of their
destruction or deliver the material and notes as ordered by the Court, when
the material and notes are no longer required for the proceeding or the
solicitor ceases to be solicitor of record;
(c) only one copy
of any confidential material shall be given to the solicitor of record for
each party; and
(d) no
confidential material or any information derived therefrom shall be disclosed
to the public.
(3) An order made under
subsection (1) continues in effect until the Court orders otherwise,
including for the duration of any appeal of the proceeding and after final
judgment.
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152. (1) Dans le cas où un document ou un élément
matériel doit, en vertu d’une règle de droit, être considéré comme
confidentiel ou dans le cas où la Cour ordonne de le considérer ainsi, la
personne qui dépose le document ou l’élément matériel le fait séparément et
désigne celui-ci clairement comme document ou élément matériel confidentiel,
avec mention de la règle de droit ou de l’ordonnance pertinente.
(2) Sauf ordonnance contraire de la Cour :
a) seuls un avocat inscrit au dossier et un
avocat participant à l’instance qui ne sont pas des parties peuvent avoir
accès à un document ou à un élément matériel confidentiel;
b) un document ou élément matériel confidentiel
ne peut être remis à l’avocat inscrit au dossier que s’il s’engage par écrit
auprès de la Cour :
(i) à ne pas
divulguer son contenu, sauf aux avocats participant à l’instance ou à la Cour
pendant son argumentation,
(ii) à ne pas
permettre qu’il soit entièrement ou partiellement reproduit,
(iii) à
détruire le document ou l’élément matériel et les notes sur son contenu et à
déposer un certificat de destruction, ou à les acheminer à l’endroit ordonné
par la Cour, lorsqu’ils ne seront plus requis aux fins de l’instance ou
lorsqu’il cessera d’agir à titre d’avocat inscrit au dossier;
c) une seule reproduction d’un document ou d’un
élément matériel confidentiel est remise à l’avocat inscrit au dossier de
chaque partie;
d) aucun document ou élément matériel
confidentiel et aucun renseignement provenant de celui-ci ne peuvent être
communiqués au public.
(3)
L’ordonnance rendue en vertu du paragraphe (1) demeure en vigueur jusqu’à ce
que la Cour en ordonne autrement, y compris pendant la durée de l’appel et
après le jugement final.
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[4]
Given Mr. Mahjoub’s current lack of knowledge
about the contents of the conversations, it is reasonable to give him an
opportunity to review them before he decides whether a confidentiality order
should be sought. To do otherwise would remove that recourse from
him. The SAs do not have the jurisdiction to act in public on behalf of
the named person, nor are they permitted to communicate with him while acting
as special advocate unless permission is granted by the designated judge.
They are not counsel of record in this proceeding. They do
not, therefore, have standing to seek a confidentiality order which would
prevent public access to Court records; only counsel for Mr. Mahjoub may seek
such an order.
[5]
To ensure the protection of Mr. Mahjoub’s
rights, the Court has determined that it would be appropriate to delay placing some
of the summaries on the public file until Mr. Mahjoub has had an opportunity to
review them and make a decision as to how he wishes to proceed.
[6]
If Mr. Mahjoub, on the advice of his counsel,
decides to seek a confidentiality order limiting the access to these summaries,
the Court will decide the issue on the grounds raised by counsel.
[7]
For the interim period, these summaries shall
be communicated to Mr. Mahjoub and his counsel and will not be made
public. A period of ten days is given to permit Mr. Mahjoub and his
counsel an opportunity to determine whether or not to seek a confidentiality
order. Upon expiry of that delay, in the absence of a motion, the
summaries will be made public. If a motion in accordance with Rule 151 is
served and filed within the ten day period, these summaries shall be kept
confidential until this Court decides the issue.
ORDER
THIS
COURT ORDERS THAT:
- The
summaries of conversations at tabs 1-6 and 10 and the summaries of surveillance
reports are hereby filed as part of the public record;
- The summaries of the conversations at
tabs 7, 8 and 9 will be kept confidential on an interim basis;
- The
summaries of the conversations at tabs 7, 8, and 9 will be disclosed only to
Mr. Mahjoub and his counsel in a sealed envelope;
- Mr. Mahjoub
and his counsel have ten days to serve and file a motion asking this Court to
continue treating the summaries of conversations confidentially;
- In absence
of any such motion, the summaries of conversations will become part of the public
record.
“Simon Noël”
Judge
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