International Law

1. International Law

2. A Brief History • Roots in the Greco-Roman era as Greeks made attempts to create universal laws governing city states of other territories as well.’ • Romans similarly attempted to impose one set of laws in all areas of the empire • 1648-1815: Various conflicts in Europe including those between The Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire lead to treaties to regulate relations between sovereign powers. • By the time of Napolean, there is a well developed system of international trade but war is still the dominant form of interaction between nations.

3. A Brief History1815-present • relations between nations now began to be governed by sets of rule and protocols at least among the developed nations of Europe and the emerging industrial nations of North America and Asia. • by the middle of the 19th century a kind of balance of power existed among the world’s most powerful states • any international law created at this time was created by the powerful European system of states and imposed on the rest of the world • The Declaration of Paris in 1856 outlined rules for blockades and the Geneva Convention of 1864 created rules for the humane treatment to people wounded during conflicts

4. 1815-present • by the end of the 19th century conventions dealing with issues such as the protection of prisoners of war, protection of sea and bird life, and the suppression of prostitution were created. • Nicolas II, Czar of Russia called two meetings at the Hague, in the Netherlands. These Hague Conferences in 1899 and 1907 attempted to promote arms limitations but failed. The one success was the establishment of the Hague Tribunal , a first attempt at an international court. • as a result of two world wars in the 20th century many new international concerns had emerged.

5. International Law after the wars • the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 created a League of Nations whose purpose was to seek peaceful international solutions to conflicts between nations • this organization was a complete failure because it failed to sanction or resolve the actions of aggressor nations such as Japan which invaded Manchuria, Italy which invaded Ethiopia and Germany which violated the terms of the Treaty throughout the late 1930’s. • the League did lay the groundwork for the United Nations which was created in 1945 to deal with international concerns arising from WWII • by 2003 the UN had 191 member states

6. Canada and International Law - Extradition Purposes: • to overcome the problem of criminal suspects fleeing prosecution by entering another country where law enforcement agencies have no jurisdiction • to bring suspects to justice in the country where the crime has been committed Definition: • ex ( out of )traditio( handing over ) n • the legal surrender or delivery of a fugitive to the jurisdiction of another state

7. Principles of Extradition • double criminality – rule that the crime committed must be a crime in both nations • reciprocity – rule that if Canada extradites a person to another country that country will reciprocate in the future if needed • evidence of guilt – rule that before extradition can take place the guilt of the person to be extradited must be proven • speciality– rule that the accused will only be charged the crime in the extradition order

8. Denial of Extradition • some countries refuse to extradite their own citizens to face justice in another country, Canada has been cooperative in the past except if one of our citizens is going to face the death penalty • concerns about the fairness of the trial the accused may face • criminal offences vs political offences, Canada and other democracies have been unwilling to send their citizens to face prosecution for political offences ( eg criticizing a government’s policy ) • humanitarian grounds, age , health, and death penalty offences • absence of a treaty between two nations ( Canada has signed over 50 treaties )

9. CSIS (Canadian Security and Intelligence Service) • created in 1984 by the CSIS Act which sets out the mandate and powers of the agency • Mandate and Powers • to take over responsibility for security and intelligence work previously done by the RCMP • collect, analyze, and retain information that may on reasonable grounds constitute threats to the security of Canada • report results of this information gathering to the Government of Canada

10. The Anti-Terrorism Act • expanded the definition of “threats to the security of Canada” found in the CSIS Act • Four Categories of Threats • 1. espionage or sabotage activities that are detrimental to the interests of Canada • 2. clandestine or deceptive activities that are foreign influenced within or relating to Canada that are detrimental to her interests • 3. activities that support threats or use acts of serious violence against property or persons for the purpose of achieving a political, religious, or ideological objective • 4. activities that are directed to undermining by unlawful acts that lead to the destructionor overthrow by violence the constitutionally established system of government in Canada

11. Anti-terrorism Act cont’d • These broadly defined categories are deliberately vague to allow CSIS to carry out itsinformation gathering in several ways • through information sharing agreements with foreign authorities and cooperation in • investigating suspected terrorist activity • obtain warrants for surveillance, searches and seizures that last 60 days to a year • interception of communications after a warrant has been issued and sharing any information from these intercepts with domestic and foreign law enforcement agencies

12. Public Safety Act (2004) Objectives: • 1. to create new public safety offences and expand police investigative powers • 2. sharing of personal information regarding immigrants and refugees • 3. increase transportation security by amending existing laws • 4. disrupt the financing of suspected terrorist operations and individuals

13. Public Safety Act - Impact • Canadian Immigration Department officials are now sharing immigrant and refugee information with foreign law enforcement and immigration agencies leading to thearrest and deportation of Canadian citizens by other countries ( Maher Arar ) • airlines are now compelled to disclose passenger manifests and other personal information to the country they are flying to and to the domestic host • private organizations can be permitted to collect personal information without the individuals permission or knowledge • Canadian regulatory agencies can collect information they consider relevant to money laundering or financing of terrorist activities

14. Discussion • What has been the effect of international law on privacy rights in Canada? • Have Canada’s forays into international law protected individuals or society as a whole? • How would you describe the process of growth of International Law in Canada?