This Act sets rules for appealing certain passport cancellation, refusal, revocation, and service decisions tied to terrorism or national security grounds, and gives judges authority over those appeals and related judicial reviews.
An Act respecting the protection of information in relation to certain decisions made under the Canadian Passport Order Short title This Act may be cited as the Prevention of Terrorist Travel Act. Definition of judge In this Act, judge means the Chief Justice of the Federal Court or a judge of that Court designated by the Chief Justice. Minister The Governor in Council may, by order, designate a minister of the Crown to be the Minister referred to in this Act. Cancellations under Canadian Passport Order — terrorism or national security If a passport has been cancelled as a result of a decision of the Minister under the Canadian Passport Order that the passport is to be cancelled on the grounds that the cancellation is necessary to prevent the commission of a terrorism offence, as defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code, or for the national security of Canada or a foreign country or state, the person to whom the passport was issued may appeal that decision to a judge within 30 days after the day on which the person receives notice of the Minister’s decision in respect of an application that was made under that Order to have the cancellation reconsidered. Extension Despite subsection (1), the person may appeal the Minister’s decision that the passport is to be cancelled within any further time that a judge may, before or after the end of those 30 days, fix or allow. Determination and disposition If an appeal is made, the judge must, without delay, determine whether cancelling the passport is reasonable on the basis of the information available to him or her and may, if he or she finds that cancelling it is unreasonable, quash the Minister’s decision that the passport is to be cancelled. Procedure The following rules apply to appeals under this section: [Repealed, 2024, c. 16, s. 96] the judge must provide the appellant and the Minister with an opportunity to be heard; the judge may receive into evidence anything that, in the judge’s opinion, is reliable and appropriate, even if it is inadmissible in a court of law, and may base his or her decision on that evidence; if the judge determines that evidence or other information provided by the Minister is not relevant or if the Minister withdraws the evidence or other information, the judge must not base his or her decision on that evidence or other information and must return it to the Minister; and the judge must ensure the confidentiality of all evidence and other information that the Minister withdraws. For greater certainty For greater certainty, sections 38.2 to 38.45 of the Canada Evidence Act apply to appeals under this section. Protection of information on an appeal Subsections 4(3) and (4) apply to any appeal of a decision made under section 4 and to any further appeal, with any necessary modifications. Refusals or revocations under Canadian Passport Order — terrorism or national security The rules set out in subsection (2) apply to judicial review proceedings in respect of the following decisions: a decision of the Minister under the Canadian Passport Order that a passport is not to be issued or is to be revoked on the grounds that the refusal to issue or the revocation is necessary to prevent the commission of a terrorism offence, as defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code, or for the national security of Canada or a foreign country or state; and a decision of the Minister under that Order that passport services are not to be delivered to a person on a ground referred to in paragraph (a) if the Minister’s decision is made after he or she decides, on the same ground, that a passport is not to be issued to the person or is to be revoked, or the Minister’s decision is made after the passport issued to the person has expired, but, based on facts that occurred before the expiry date, he or she could have decided that the passport is to be revoked on the same ground had it not expired. Rules The following rules apply for the purposes of this section: [Repealed, 2024, c. 16, s. 97] the judge must provide the applicant and the Minister with an opportunity to be heard; For greater certainty, sections 38.2 to 38.45 of the Canada Evidence Act apply to judicial review proceedings referred to in subsection (1). Subsection 6(2) applies to any appeal of a decision made by a judge in relation to the judicial review proceedings referred to in section 6 and to any further appeal, with any necessary modifications.