Gadfly

Bring Them Home

Grace Zulynik — 2023-02-18

The Canadian government has thus far refused to examine the issue of detained Canadian foreign fighters. A legal case being brought on their behalf argues that this constitutes a violation of the detainees Section 7 Charter rights and this paper finds that is sufficient precedent in the Canadian legal cannon to support this assertion. This conclusion was reached through an analysis of key Section 7 Charter cases containing elements similar to the case being brought on behalf of the detainees including the application of the Charter overseas, a discussion of the Canadian anti-terrorism regime, and the potential for positive rights under Section 7. There is little existing literature on this topic, so broader academic writings on Section 7 rights was considered alongside the selected cases. Although this paper is limited by a lack of information pertaining to the individuals involved, there does appear to be strong evidence that the non-actions of the Canadian state do constitute a violation of the detainees Section 7 Charter rights.

Administrative Segregation as Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment: The Relationship Between Canadian Charter’s Section 12 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights’ Article 7

Jared Wegenast — 2023-02-18

This legal analysis compares and contrasts the application of the Charter’s section 12, regarding “cruel and unusual treatment or punishment,” in the Canadian justice system to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights’ Article 7, regarding “cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment. These legal concepts are integral to the Canadian Federal Government’s contemporary policy on the use of administrative segregation (also known as solitary confinement) in the Canadian prison system. Thus, what is the relationship between the Charter’s s. 12 and the ICCPR’s Article 7 regarding incarcerated persons facing administrative segregation? The use of expert evidence from international actors shows the potential effects of international treaties on domestic justice systems; the segregation cases of British Columbia Civil Liberties Association v. Canada (BCCLA) and Canadian Civil Liberties Association v. Canada (CCLA), and subsequent cases like R. v. Capay (Capay) and Reddock v. Canada (Reddock) specifically present how the use (or lack thereof) of section 12 and international expert evidence can affect the outcomes of domestic legal cases. The cases of BCCLA, CCLA, Capay, and Reddock, occurring from 2018-2019, are selected and analyzed to show that the use of expert evidence and decisions of justices in section 12 cases creates a section 12 that begins to replicate the ICCPR’s Article 7 and improve the conditions and rights of incarcerated persons.

A New Threat to Life

Esha Grewal — 2023-02-18

Despite having one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms lacks any explicit environmental protection rights. This contrasts with the constitutions of countries such as the Netherlands, France, and Finland. With the recent increase in global environmental advocacy, the search for environmental protections through the Canadian courts has never been higher. In this paper, I examine whether the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) would expand the scope of section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to encompass the right to a healthy environment. To answer this, I conducted a legal analysis of SCC case judgements involving a section 7 Charter claim within the last ten years. The two main variables that I am testing in this analysis are the scope of section 7 and the presence of judicial activism. Detailed measurements of these variables can be found in my methodology section. My findings indicate that SCC justices would not broadly encompass the right to a healthy environment within section 7. This is due to a consistently low presence of judicial activism and generally narrow interpretations of section 7 in recent SCC rulings. However, the findings do indicate that section 7 could possibly extend to the environmental policy area in a limited manner. More dialogue with Canadian courts regarding constitutionally protected environmental rights is needed to address this gap.

Talking Heads: Forecasting Russian Aggression in ‘Frozen’ Separatist Conflicts

Michael Lenko — 2023-02-18

In the last 14 years, Russia has militarily intervened in three ‘frozen’—where hostilities have ceased, but the resolution of a conflict has no end in sight— separatist conflicts in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine. These conflicts have caused mass casualties, disrupted the lives of people living in these regions, and unsettled regional security. Further, the outbreak of a wider international conflict is a real possibility, as seen by the presence of NATO member Turkey’s involvement in the most recent conflict in Azerbaijan. If we could forecast when Russia will militarily intervene next, policy makers could take more decisive actions—to prevent a more serious international conflict. Through analyzing Russian elite rhetoric, this project hopes to show that future Russian military aggression in ‘frozen’ separatist conflicts can potentially be forecasted. This project will compare Russian elite’s quotes in news articles regarding the separatists regions in Georgia in Moldova, in three distinct time periods—1992-2002, 2003-2008, 2009-the present. Through computer-assisted text analysis methods, this project aims to clarify whether, between 2003-2008—during the Rose Revolution—in Georgia, Russian elite rhetoric could have forecasted Russia’s 2008 war with Georgia. Through the growing revolution of text analysis in political science research, this paper will be able to survey large amounts of text, in ways that were once inaccessible or required arduous efforts to understand the meaning of text. This paper hopes to provide a mechanism to forewarn of impending Russian military aggression, while applying text analyses methods in a new application.