Theme 2011
Terrorism, Law & Democracy: 10 Years After 9/11
In the decade since 9/11, Canadian law has changed in a number of notable ways to grapple with the threat of terrorism. Many of these changes have been controversial, especially in the way in which they reconcile (or not) civil liberties and human rights with enhanced state power to combat terrorism. At the same time, the last decade has been one of several public inquiries, investigating the actual practice of anti-terrorism by Canada’s security services.
Key questions arising from the 2011 conference include, at the broadest level, whether Canadian law has successfully preserved fundamental rights and values of substantive and procedural justice while at the same time contributing to anti-terrorism. More specific issues include (but are not limited to):
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whether Canada has, relative to other democracies, neglected criminal law remedies in favour of administrative law approaches and the implications of such a strategy;
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whether Canadian approaches to review and oversight of activities conducted in the name of anti-terrorism are adequate to the new challenges associated with the post-9/11 environment;
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whether the globalization of anti-terrorism initiatives has created difficulties at the national level in the manner and way in which Canadian law grapples with terrorism;
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whether anti-terrorism initiatives have had a corrosive impact on the separation of powers between executive, legislature and judiciary by giving unusual primacy to the executive;
- and whether Canadian practice in the area of anti-terrorism law is consistent with best practices in other jurisdictions.
This conference comes almost 10 years after the CIAJ’s 2002 conference, “Terrorism, Law & Democracy: How is Canada changing following September 11.”
