Law Times

Law Times • augusT 20, 2012 Pair planning to launch partnership next year Continued from page 1 disappointed in the treatment of our own citizens in this case. While Norris and Bethell have only acted as Khadr's Canadian counsel this past year, their in- " volvement in the case goes back to 2006 when Khadr began legal proceedings in Canada. Norris and Bethell were acting for interveners in matters before the Supreme Court of Canada in 2008 and 2010. Norris was called to the bar of Ontario in 1993 and practised criminal law with Clayton Ruby and Marlys Edwardh. Bethell articled at WeirFoulds LLP and was called to the bar in 2005. She then practised at Paliare Ro- land Rosenberg Rothstein LLP before moving into criminal law. Norris met Bethell at a meeting organized by Human Rights Watch. Their first experience work- ing together was on Khadr' Lawyers' Association asked Norris to intervene on its behalf at the Supreme Court. Norris asked Bethell to help with the case and they've been working together ever since. In 2008, Norris and Bethell began practising at s case when the Criminal NEWS PAGE 5 CBA revamps membership prices While the Supreme Court found a violation of Khadr's s. 7 rights, the court didn't order the gov- ernment to request his return to Canada. Rather, the court found an infringement of Khadr' rights and leſt it up to the government to decide how best to respond. In October 2010, Khadr entered into a plea s Charter agreement in relation to the U.S. charges. Under the agreement, he was to serve eight more years with the first year to take place in Guantanamo Bay and the remainder of the sentence in Canada. The Ca- nadian and U.S. governments also exchanged dip- lomatic notes stating both countries' support for Khadr' of his sentence. Khadr made a formal written application request- ing a transfer to Canada in the spring of 2011. In August 2011, Khadr retained Norris and Bethell to act as his counsel. Their work initially fo- cused on getting the United States to approve Khadr' Simcoe Chambers with a focus on criminal defence and international law. Their practice includes extra- ditions, treaty transfers, and immigration law in the national security context. Throughout the years, they've been committed to supporting Khadr's return to Canada. Norris says it was clear to him from working on behalf of the in- terveners before the Supreme Court just how deep the issues were in Khadr' was unique and says the injustices done to him cry out for someone to make every effort on his behalf. He adds that when the opportunity to assist Khadr presented itself on a case that' s case. He notes Khadr's case portance but that also fit in with his vision of what he wanted to be as a lawyer, he jumped at the chance to represent him. Khadr was born in Scarborough and will be turn- s not only of great im- transfer to Canada, particularly once he had com- pleted serving his first year in U.S. custody. On April 18, 2012, the U.S. government con- firmed its approval of Khadr's transfer to Canada. s s transfer to Canada to serve the remainder Continued from page 1 year's annual gathering of the Canadian legal world. Orga- s treasurer revealed they expect to take a much bigger "We're currently projecting a $100,000 loss," said Annette loss than expected on this year's conference. Horst, a lawyer from The Pas, Man., during the council. "When we originally programmed it out in the spring momentum didn't continue, she said. Horst also warned the council to expect the CBA' enue to take a hit in the next couple of years as its new mem- bership fee policy takes effect. An effort two years in the making, the fee review repre- " Unfortunately, the s rev- sented the first time the CBA had looked at its pricing struc- ture since 1996. As of 2013, the new policy sets the fee for regular and judicial members at $540 and will rise accord- ing to the consumer price index. Lawyers in their first three years of call get a 60-per-cent discount, while law school members pay a $20 fee. The new pricing structure also allows larger firms to get Since then, Khadr has been waiting for the Canadian government to issue its approval. Norris notes the transfer application has been sitting on Toews' desk since March 2011. "The reality is that [the Canadian government has] known what's been happening to Omar for years," says Bethell. "They exchanged diplomatic notes in 2010. Dip- lomatic notes are obviously not taken lightly and for the government to suggest this is the first time they're looking into this and reviewing the case is truly hard to believe. ing 26 in September. U.S. soldiers took him pris- oner in Afghanistan on July 27, 2002, when he was 15 years old. Authorities alleged he threw a grenade during a firefight that killed an American soldier and that he conspired with Al-Qaida members to com- mit acts of terrorism against U.S. and coalition forces. A few months later, Khadr moved to adult deten- tion facilities at Guantanamo Bay. In February and September 2003, agents from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the foreign intelligence division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade interviewed Khadr and then shared the product of their inter- views with U.S. authorities. A Foreign Affairs rep- resentative interviewed Khadr again in March 2004 despite knowing U.S. authorities were subjecting him to a sleep deprivation technique known as the "fre- quent flyer program" in an effort to make him less resistant to interrogation. The Federal Court issued an interim injunction in 2005 to prevent CSIS and Foreign Affairs from interviewing Khadr further. In November 2005, authorities charged Khadr with war crimes. "One of the very troubling aspects of the Guanta- namo process is that it did not provide for a separate judicial process for youth," says Norris. "It' dicial process and to other judicial processes that we respect that youth ought to be treated differently and that was absent entirely from the Guantanamo pro- cess." He adds that his understanding is that the inter- national war crimes tribunals won't prosecute youths. In 2008, the Supreme Court ordered the disclo- s a value that's fundamental to the Canadian ju- sure of the CSIS and Foreign Affairs interview tran- scripts to Khadr. The court noted that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms applied to the Canadian offi- cials' actions. On July 10, 2008, during a media interview, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced his decision not to request Khadr' Khadr applied for judicial review of the decision. He claimed an infringement of his s. 7 Charter rights. s repatriation. Consequently, view application to compel Toews to make a deci- sion. The issue on the application is whether there has been unreasonable delay on Toews' part in coming to his decision. Norris notes that delay in treaty transfer matters oſten occurs and isn't unique to Khadr's case. On July 13, 2012, Khadr brought a judicial re- " any sort of treaty transfer for pretty much any type of Canadian offender for reasons that really escape us," he says. "There are sound public policy reasons for hav- "This government has been quite hostile towards nizers will be hoping for a more profitable affair aſter the CBA' and registration opened, everything was looking very well. A lot of people were registering and people were very excit- ed that we were going back to Vancouver. discounts by buying memberships in bulk. Firms of more than 100 lawyers get a 15-per-cent discount off the base fee when 95 per cent of their lawyers register as members. For those with less than 95-per-cent registration, a five-per-cent discount is available as long as they pay a $200 advocacy fee for each non-member lawyer. Mid-size firms with 50 to 99 lawyers can get a 10-per-cent discount on base fees when they register 95 per cent of their lawyers as members. "It does have a financial impact, but we are in a very strong financial position to enable us to make these changes at this particular time, The finance committee is of the view that the CBA "will not be long term negatively impacted," she added. " said Horst. Gail Wartman of Moose Jaw, Sask., chairwoman of the CBA's membership committee, told the council the existing fee policy was "not meeting the needs of members or po- tential members." Since 2008, she said the organization has maintained a churn rate of about 10 per cent, a number the new policy is expected to significantly cut. Wartman said the discounts offered to large firms were necessary given that 25 per cent of CBA members work at them and they account for 33 per cent of the CBA' revenue. "Large law firms have told us that they are reconsidering ing treaties with countries and for having a process for bringing Canadians back to Canada to complete their sentences here. When somebody is a Canadian citizen, they have the right to return to Canada ab- solutely once they are released from foreign custody and one would think that the government would see that it' s in everyone's interest to promote the speedy reintegration of individuals into Canadian society." He notes that other circumstances, such as the con- ditions of detention in foreign countries, make the return to Canada even more pressing. At this point, Toews has requested access to two psychological assessments and videos of Khadr be- fore his military commission trial in October 2010. Khadr' terials and the military commission has signed off as well. Norris is hopeful Khadr' s defence team has agreed to release the ma- tion will come before the court this fall. Norris and Bethell keep busy not only with Khadr's case but also several other international s judicial review applica- criminal law matters, including extradition cases. This past June, Norris and Bethell were before the Supreme Court of Canada in Suresh Sriskandarajah v. United States of America. The court heard that case with two other appeals that challenged the consti- tutionality of terrorism provisions in the Criminal Code. In Sriskandarajah' sought his extradition over allegations he assisted the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for the purpose of enhancing its ability to engage in terrorism. The court' s matter, the United States they've almost full integrated their practices and they plan to form a partnership next year. While Norris and Bethell are sole practitioners, LT s decision is currently under reserve. www.lawtimesnews.com s total the policy of paying membership for every member of the firm," said Wartman. "Just as their clients asked the law firms for help and consideration during recessionary times, the association was being asked how we can help those firms." Lee Akazaki, a former president of the Ontario Bar As- sociation, said CBA membership at some of the largest Bay Street firms had already begun to slip. He was on the fee review committee and said some firms with membership rates historically exceeding 90 per cent had fallen to about 50 per cent. "Multiply those hundreds of members by hundreds of dollars for each, and we're talking about devastation," he said. "If that were to continue, the CBA as we now know it, that provides conferences such as this, that provided CPD to rural communities and provides CPD to remote communi- ties, will cease to exist." Shelley Timms, a Toronto sole practitioner and former large-firm lawyer, said she would support the resolution but sounded reluctant. "The problem I see sometimes is it feels as though there is a lot of emphasis on the large firms," she said, adding that membership can be expensive for small-firm lawyers aſter paying branch and section fees on top of the base price. "We're looking at 33 per cent of membership is large firm, s the challenge that's going to face us." LT but 67 per cent is not. . . . We will now have to convince those smaller-firm people as to why their dues proportionally are higher. That'

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