Canada (Attorney General) v. Soltanizadeh

Canada (Attorney General) v. Soltanizadeh

The Court allowed the Attorney General's appeal and remitted the matter for reconsideration because the Federal Court judge's reasons contained unexplained and material inconsistencies in his treatment of redactions, placed improper emphasis on relevance and inadvertent disclosure in the s.87 analysis, and failed to...

Source-derived case information.

Citation
2019 FCA 202
Parties
Appellant: Attorney General of Canada; Respondent: Kamran Soltanizadeh
Court
Federal Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction
Canada
Judgment Date
6 June 2019
Procedural Posture
Judicial Review Proceeding Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act With Interlocutory S.87 Non Disclosure Motion; Appeal Under S.87.01 / Federal Court of Appeal Decision on Appeal From Federal Court S.87 Non Disclosure Order; Remitted for Reconsideration
Outcome
Appeal allowed; matter remitted to the Federal Court judge for reconsideration in accordance with these reasons.
Legal Topics
Section 87 IRPA Non Disclosure, Section 83 IRPA Confidentiality, Section 87.01 Appeals, Section 18.1 CSIS Act Privilege, Special Advocate Regime, Inadvertent Disclosure, Standard of Review
Source Language
en
Immigration Law National Security Law Administrative Law Evidence Law Section 87 IRPA Non Disclosure Section 83 IRPA Confidentiality Section 87.01 Appeals Section 18.1 CSIS Act Privilege +3 more

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Parties

Attorney General of Canada

Appellant

Kamran Soltanizadeh

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Judicial Review Proceeding Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act With Interlocutory S.87 Non Disclosure Motion; Appeal Under S.87.01 / Federal Court of Appeal Decision on Appeal From Federal Court S.87 Non Disclosure Order; Remitted for Reconsideration

  1. 1 What is the standard of review for an appeal of a s.87 IRPA decision?
  2. 2 Did the Federal Court judge apply the correct legal test under s.87 IRPA or improperly import a balancing/public interest test?
  3. 3 Did the judge err in concluding that disclosure of certain redacted material would not be injurious to national security?

Ratio Decidendi

The Court allowed the Attorney General's appeal and remitted the matter for reconsideration because the Federal Court judge's reasons contained unexplained and material inconsistencies in his treatment of redactions, placed improper emphasis on relevance and inadvertent disclosure in the s.87 analysis, and failed to make sufficiently clear determinations of whether disclosure would be injurious under s.83/s.87; appellate standard is Housen and deference is owed to proper evidentiary showing of injury, but s.87 does not authorize a public‑interest balancing test akin to s.38 CEA.

Court Disposition

Appeal allowed; matter remitted to the Federal Court judge for reconsideration in accordance with these reasons.

Orders

  • Appeal allowed.
  • Matter remitted to the Federal Court (Mosley J.) for reconsideration of the s.87 non-disclosure determinations in accordance with the Federal Court of Appeal reasons.