Sunday, May 31, 2009

Law to let terror victims sue in Canadian courts, Harper says

CBC News

The federal government will soon introduce legislation that will allow victims of terrorism to sue perpetrators in Canadian courts, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Sunday.

Harper made the announcement at a Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) event in Toronto where he received the Saul Hayes Human Rights Award.

He said the legislation would allow "victims of terrorism to seek justice against individuals, organizations and foreign states that support terrorism."

Other details will be provided when the legislation is unveiled this week, Harper said.

Law professor James Morton, who was at the CJC event, said that while news of the legislation received a standing ovation, the announcement also raises questions about how Canada deals with foreign states
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5 comments:

Mark said...

"... raises questions about how Canada deals with foreign states."

Actually, I'm thinking that once the details are revealed, it will be consistent with what we've seen from the Conservatives, i.e. victims = Israel, terrorists = Hamas.

Such an overtly political definition would be necessary, in order to avoid opening a big, ugly, nasty can of worms. Also, given that international law, and the International Crimial Court, already deal with war crimes, the only point to the kind of legislation that Harper is talking about is if it was based on a more political definition than what is currently defined by international law.

As part of our continuing series on "Conservatives outdoing the Liberals on stuff they used to criticize the Liberals for," remember when the Conservatives used to criticize the Liberals for politicizing our justice system?

Cliff said...

How about victims of domestic terrorism such as the violent fringe of the anti-choice movement? Could victims of attacks and terroristic threats by violent 'pro-lifers' use this legislation to sue the groups providing material support and incitement to extremists?

SusieQ said...

this one is bound to stir up a lot of interesting issues.

Stephen Downes said...

I would have preferred to see James Morton call it for what it is, a bare-faced attempt to pander to the Jewish vote by creating a useless law that imports yet another unwelcome aspect of American jurisprudence.

That would have taken some courage to say, though.

anarchore said...

Disgusting!

Shabbaz Goi on Parade