Posted March 25, 2014

OTTAWA, March 25th 2014

Jennifer Klinck, Perri Ravon, Justin Dubois and Michael Sabet of the Ottawa office of Power Law, appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada on March 25th, 2014, in the case of Luis Alberto Hernandez Febles v Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (Court File number 35215).

In this case, Mr Febles, a Cuban citizen, was denied refugee status in Canada on the basis of past crimes for which he had long ago served sentences in the United States.

Jennifer Klinck argued on behalf of Amnesty International that the exclusion specified in Article 1F(b) of the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees is specifically targeted at fugitives from justice, and was never meant to exclude from refugee status those who have paid their debt to society by serving the sentence for their crime.

Four other Canadian and international organizations intervened in support of Mr. Febles’ position and to oppose an interpretation of the Convention that would forever and irremediably exclude from refugee protection a person who committed a serious crime at any time in his life. The Supreme Court has reserved judgment in this case.

For more information on this case, please consult the website of the Supreme Court of Canada or contact Caroline Etter from Power Law at cetter@powerlaw.ca.

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