Crown wins Air India fight in Supreme Court

OTTAWA, Jun 23 2004
CBC, Canada

It appears that a mystery person will face a new court hearing as part of the Air India investigation, following a decision on Wednesday by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Air India investigators were trying to force the person to answer questions about the 1985 bombings at a secret hearing in Vancouver last summer. But the person refused and appealed to the highest court.

But the Supreme Court ruled against the appeal, and now that person – whose name is protected by a court order – will face a hearing.

The court ruled that under Canada's new anti-terrorism law, people can be forced to attend hearings and answer questions from authorities.

The media filed a separate appeal – after the court refused to hand over information from the secret proceedings.

The court also ruled on Wednesday that such hearings should be held in public, unless the presiding judge decides a publication ban is warranted or the public needs to be excluded.

That means it will be up to a B.C. judge to decide whether the person's name should be revealed and whether the proceedings should be held in public.