Media Release: Supreme Court Denial of Leave on Safe Third Regretted

SUPREME COURT DENIAL OF LEAVE ON SAFE THIRD REGRETTED

The decision of the Supreme Court of Canada not to grant leave in the case challenging the Canada- U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement was met with regret today by the Canadian Council for Refugees, Amnesty International and the Canadian Council of Churches.

“This decision means that refugees will not have their day in court,” said Elizabeth McWeeny, CCR President. “The US is not in fact safe for all refugees, so we deeply regret that the Supreme Court has not taken this opportunity to ensure that Canada provides refugees the protection they need from forced return to persecution.”

The Supreme Court of Canada was being asked by the three organizations to determine whether the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement is unconstitutional and violates refugees’ rights.

The organizations were appealing the Federal Court of Appeal’s ruling on the Safe Third Country Agreement. The appeal court overturned an earlier Federal Court decision which struck down the Agreement on the grounds that the United States does not comply with international human rights obligations.

The organizations note that the Federal Court of Appeal did not dispute the lower court’s finding of non-compliance: instead it ruled that the conclusion “that the US does not ‘actually’ comply is irrelevant.”