The Canadian Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that the present government laws to combat terrorism are against Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The nine-judge panel ruled 9-0 that the security certificate system is unconstitutional and encroaches on the civil liberties of the foreign terror suspects.
The current system allows government to arrest any foreign suspect and detain him on secret charges while the government works out on their deportation orders.
In his ruling, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote, "Before the state can detain people for significant periods of time, it must accord them a fair judicial process". The review was brought to the court's notice by three foreigners, all of whom are alleged to have links with Islamic terror group, al-Qaeda.
Algerian-born Mohamed Harkat was detained for a period of three-and-a-half years without any charges being brought against him before he was released in 2006 under strict bail conditions. Adil Charkaoui, a Moroccan national, had to serve a jail sentence of 21 months before he was released in February 2005 while Syrian-born Hassan Almrei has been in detention since 2001.
The move was hailed by various human-right groups with Alex Neve, the secretary general of Amnesty International Canada, saying "We've started to see the rollback. Today the Supreme Court of Canada has said, 'Make sure you put human rights at the center of how you prevent terrorism.'
