Is the Safe Third Country deal constitutional? Canada’s Supreme Court to rule – National | 24CA News
The Supreme Court of Canada is anticipated to rule Friday on whether or not the Safe Third Country Agreement between the U.S. and Canada is constitutional in a case that might have ramifications on the 2004 bilateral treaty that governs the circulation of asylum seekers throughout the border.
Under the settlement, asylum seekers are required to make their declare on the first “safe” nation they attain. It has meant that, in apply, border officers in Canada flip again would-be asylum seekers who present up at official checkpoints from the U.S.
But a loophole exists, and people who cross into Canada or the U.S. at unofficial crossings have been in a position to make their claims when intercepted by authorities — for instance, the border officers at Roxham Road in Quebec.
The Canadian Council for Refugees introduced ahead the case in 2017 which is now earlier than the nation’s high courtroom, arguing that the U.S. will not be at all times a protected nation for all refugees.
The Federal Court dominated in July 2022 that the settlement was unconstitutional.
But in 2021, the Federal Court of Appeal discovered the settlement didn’t violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, permitting the federal authorities’s enchantment that the Federal Court misinterpreted the legislation when it dominated that the treaty breaches constitutional ensures of life, liberty and safety. The ruling successfully arrange the courtroom battle that will likely be determined this week.
Friday’s ruling may additionally influence a latest deal reached between the 2 international locations that noticed the Safe Third Country Agreement to be carried out throughout the whole shared border in an effort to discourage the irregular migrant crossings seen at unofficial entryways equivalent to Roxham Road.
Last yr, practically 40,000 migrants entered Canada via Roxham Road, in keeping with federal knowledge. In December alone, the crossing noticed 4,689 migrants enter — greater than all would-be refugees who arrived in Canada in 2021.
From October 2022 via February of this yr, U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded 68,784 encounters at or close to the Canada-U.S. border with folks deemed inadmissible, together with 13,053 within the final month alone.
—with information from The Canadian Press
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