PDF version: State Responsibility for Protection against Domestic Violence: The Case of Jessica Lenahan (Gonzales) 

Case considered: Jessica Lenahan (Gonzales) et al v United States, Case 12.626, Report No. 80/11 (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, August 17, 2011)

On August 17, 2011, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) released its merits report in the case of Jessica Lenahan (Gonzales) and the United States. The case concerns states’ positive obligations to use due diligence in responding to situations of domestic violence, and is the first such case involving the U.S. to be considered by the IACHR. In what many are calling a landmark decision, the IACHR found that the United States had breached several Articles of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man in relation to its obligations to Lenahan and her children. This post will summarize the IACHR decision and analyze the implications of the case in Canada, particularly in provinces such as Alberta which have civil domestic violence legislation.

(more…)

PDF version: Why Canada should Address Jorge Vinicio Orantes Sosa’s Alleged War Crimes before Extraditing Him to the U.S. 

This summer, Jorge Vinicio Orantes Sosa will fight extradition from Alberta to California to face immigration charges. Chief Justice Wittman will preside over the extradition hearing which been set to take place from August 16 to 17, 2011 at the Court of Queen’s Bench. This article suggests why Jorge Vinicio Orantes Sosa should have been first charged and tried in Canada for his alleged participation in war crimes during the Guatemalan civil conflict, before being extradited on lesser immigration charges. (more…)

PDF version: Interim Report on Violence Against Aboriginal Women Released

Report Commented on: House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women Interim Report, Call Into The Night: An Overview of Violence Against Aboriginal Women

Just before the House of Commons was dissolved for the election, the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women tabled its Interim Report, Call Into The Night: An Overview of Violence Against Aboriginal Women. In a news release, the Honourable Hedy Fry, Chair of the Committee, stated as follows: “It is rare that an all party Committee displays such unanimity, urgency and passion in getting its message out. All members were so astounded and overwhelmed by the systemic, institutionalised nature of the violence against Aboriginal women that we wanted to make sure, this time, that their voices will be heard; that their cries for help and the hope which these hopeless and desperate women had placed in us was not lost because of an election call.” I blogged on the Committee’s Edmonton hearing back in January, focusing on the lack of attention the study was receiving in the media. The silence around violence against Aboriginal women is also identified as a major issue in the Committee’s Interim Report (at 3-4).

(more…)

PDF version: CCS and CDM: the eligibility of carbon capture and storage projects under the clean development mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol - the Cancun Meeting of the Conference of the Parties

Decision commented on: UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol, CoP\MoP Decision on “Carbon dioxide capture and storage in geological formations as clean development mechanism project activities”

The 16th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the 7th Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (KP) (CoP\MoP) concluded last week in Cancun. In the assessment of most observers this was a successful meeting but perhaps only because expectations were modest and anything seemed liked progress after the Copenhagen debacle of last year. But there is still much that remains to be done before countries can agree on a successor to the first commitment period of the KP which expires in 2012. Without such agreement the KP will simply die. Some, especially Europe, but also developing countries, want to see a second commitment period. But others, like Canada, point to the lack of inclusiveness of the KP (to say nothing of our own non-compliance which would result in a penalty on Canada during any second commitment period) and want to see an alternative to the KP that imposes emissions reduction obligations not only on the United States (not a party to the KP) but also on the so-called BRIC countries (Brazil, India, China) as well as other developing countries.

The Meeting did make progress on number of larger matters including REDD+ (reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) and on the narrower issue of the eligibility of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects under the clean development mechanism (CDM) of the KP. The purpose of this note is to provide an update on that debate.

(more…)

PDF version: Between a Rock and a Hard Place: An Unjust Ending to an Unjust Process for Omar Khadr

Case Considered: United States v. Khadr (Mil. Com. Oct. 25, 2010) (plea agreement, not yet published)

Confirming speculation that has been circulating for some time, Omar Khadr pled guilty on October 25, 2010, to all charges before a U.S. Military Commission proceeding. Specifically, the charges to which he pled included murder in violation of the laws of war, attempted murder in violation of the laws of war, providing material support to terrorism, conspiracy, and spying. (U.S. Department of Defense, News Release, Detainee Pleads Guilty at Military Commission Hearing (25 Oct. 2010)(”DoD News Release“). Canada’s role in the agreement remains murky amongst conflicting reports as to whether that government has agreed to Khadr serving seven years of an eight-year sentence in Canada. (Bryn Weese and Brian Lilley, After one year, Canada will welcome back Khadr (25 Oct. 2010), Toronto Sun; see also Carol Rosenberg, Canadian pleads guilty to war crimes at Guantánamo court (25 Oct. 2010), Miami Herald). In spite of statements by Dennis Edney, one of Khadr’s Edmonton-based lawyers, that Khadr accepted the plea deal because Canada agreed to allow him to serve the last seven years of his term in Canada, Canadian officials have not publicly confirmed this to be the case, continuing to insist that the matter is between Khadr and the United States. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews stated, after the agreement was announced, that Khadr, like any other Canadian imprisoned in the United States, has a right to apply for repatriation to serve the remainder of his sentence in Canada. (Steven Chase, Khadr has ‘right to apply’ for repatriation: Public Safety Minister (25 Oct. 2010), The Globe and Mail).

(more…)

Case considered: R. v. Hape, 2007 SCC 26

PDF version: My Vote for R. v. Hape as a Significant Legal Case of the Decade

When the R. v. Hape case was released at the Supreme Court of Canada, there was some negative reaction in the legal community, but its real significance did not become apparent until recently. In particular, it has become very significant in the litigation aimed at bringing Omar Khadr to Canada from Guantánamo Bay.

(more…)

Document considered: Meeting of the parties to the 1973 Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears, Tromsø, Norway, 17 - 19 March 2009 Outcome of Meeting

PDF Version: The Tromsø meeting of the parties to the 1973 Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears: a comment on three aspects of the meeting report

A few weeks ago (March 17 - 19, 2009) the parties to the 1973 Polar Bear Agreement met in Tromsø to consider the further implementation of the Agreement. This is a significant breakthrough. Apart from a meeting of the parties back in 1981 when the Parties decided to continue the Agreement in force as contemplated by Article X(6) of the Agreement and in informal meeting of the range states in 2007, the parties have never considered the further implementation of this Agreement.

(more…)

PDF Version: A Note on Integrity in Treaty-Making & Copyright Law

In the William Howard Lecture delivered at the University of Calgary on February 8th, 2008, Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry of the Government of Canada, spoke about the virtue of integrity in regulating greenhouse gases. He noted that “[i]t takes integrity to strike the right balance and to draw the lines that will eventually become law which our industries will comply with.” Prentice is also the lead Minister responsible for copyright. So, while Prentice used environmental legislation to illustrate his point about striking the right balance, it was not lost on the audience that the integrity of legislators and the legislative process is also relevant to striking the right balance between copyrights and other values.

(more…)