Rethinking Suresh: Refoulement to Torture Under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms

This article takes the European Court of HumanRights’ decision in Saadi v. Italy and uses it as anopportunity to re-examine the Canadian case of Sureshv. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration).The author argues that the national security exceptionin Suresh is no longer tenable in light of subsequentdevelopments in both international and Canadian law.The author concludes that the Supreme Court ofCanada should reject the Suresh exception at its firstopportunity and adopt an approach to review ofrefoulement cases similar to that under the UnitedNations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment andthe European Convention for the Protection of HumanRights and Fundamental Freedoms.