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Supreme Court: Habeas Corpus and Immigration Detainees

supreme court: He is seen here greeted by friend Gebere Mageraga, after his release, according to Toronto Star. In a case that opens on Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Canada is being asked to clarify if immigration detainees are protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and can access habeas corpus. Ebrahim Toure right who had been held in detention pending deportation for 5 1/2 years, was released in September after his lawyer successfully asked an Ontario court to rule his detention unlawful under habeas corpus. Rick Madonik / Toronto Star File Photo While Canadian citizens serving a jail sentence are entitled to argue their case before a judge, foreign nationals held for immigration violations must appear before a federal tribunal, which has been criticized for rubber-stamping their continued incarceration. Until now, immigration detention has been a murky area of law between two levels of authority the federal government, which is responsible for immigration matters and runs the tribunal, and the provinces, which are in charge of detention facilities. Canada's highest court is being asked to clarify if immigration detainees are protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and can access what is legally known as habeas corpus a legal recourse that allows anyone held by the state to challenge the lawfulness of their detention. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.