Abstract
This paper describes how the Federal Courts have dealt with two issues pertaining to the extra-territorial application of the Charter arising from the Supreme Court of Canada’s decisions in R. v. Hape and Canada (Justice) v. Khadr: (1) whether there exists a “fundamental human rights exception” to the general rule that the Charter does not apply extra-territorially; and (2) whether non-Canadian citizens outside Canada who are not subjected to a Canadian judicial process are beneficiaries of Charter rights. The Federal Courts have concluded that the Supreme Court did not create a “fundamental human rights exception” justifying the extra-territorial application of the Charter if Canadian state actors are involved in fundamental human rights violations outside Canada. In addition, they have determined that non-Canadian citizens outside Canada with no sufficient connection to Canada are not entitled to avail the mselves of Charter rights guaranteed to “everyone”. The paper concludes by identifying several additional questions arising from the Supreme Court’s Hape and Khadr decisions that future courts may be required to consider.
Citation Information
Rennie, Donald J. and Rothschild, Ramona.
"The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Canadian Officials Abroad."
The Supreme Court Law Review: Osgoode’s Annual Constitutional Cases Conference
47.
(2009).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.60082/2563-8505.1173
https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/sclr/vol47/iss1/5
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