TORONTO — Counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association appear today at the Supreme Court of Canada as intervenors in the case of Pepa v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration).
This case concerns whether a permanent resident visa holder maintains a right to appeal where an administrative delay outside their control results in their visa expiring.
In this case, the Immigration Appeal Division held that a permanent resident visa holder did not have a right to appeal because by the time an exclusion order was issued their visa had expired and the applicant was no longer considered a visa holder for the purposes of the appeal provision.
The CCLA intervened in this case to ensure that there is meaningful access to a statutory appeal right of tribunal decisions.
“It would be arbitrary and unfair to deny individuals meaningful access to appeal administrative decisions because of circumstances beyond their control,” said Harini Sivalingam, Director of the Equality Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
The CCLA argues that statutory appeal rights must be interpreted in accordance with fundamental principles of the rule of law and procedural fairness.
The CCLA is grateful to be represented pro bono on this intervention by Nadia Effendi and Teagan Markin of BLG LLP.
About the Canadian Civil Liberties Association
The CCLA is an independent, non-profit organization with supporters from across the country. Founded in 1964, the CCLA is a national human rights organization committed to defending the rights, dignity, safety, and freedoms of all people in Canada.
For the Media
For further comments, please contact us at media@ccla.org.
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