Abstract
The question of the extra-territorial reach of Canada’s international human rights obligations, as enforced through the Charter has been at the heart of several recent high-profile cases, including the handling of battlefield detainees in Afghanistan and the plight of Canadian citizen Omar Khadr, held at Guantánamo Bay since October 2002. Omar Khadr’s case has come before the Supreme Court of Canada on two occasions and in both instances the Court held that the Charter applied when Canadian officials interrogated him at Guantánamo Bay in clear breach of Canada’s international human rights obligations. However, in other cases courts have refused to allow extra-territorial application of the Charter, including the Afghan prisoners case and the cases of Guantánamo prisoners who were also questioned by Canadian officials but who do not carry Canadian citizenship. This article examines the different reasoning used in these conflicting cases and makes a call for a coherent approach in line with Canada’s international human rights obligations.
Citation Information
Neve, Alex.
"The Frontiers of Human Rights: Reflections on the Implications of the Supreme Court’s Judgments in Omar Khadr 2008 and 2010."
The Supreme Court Law Review: Osgoode’s Annual Constitutional Cases Conference
51.
(2010).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.60082/2563-8505.1198
https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/sclr/vol51/iss1/13
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