An Empirical Study of Terrorism Charges and Terrorism Trials in Canada between September 2001 and September 2018
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An Empirical Study of Terrorism Charges and
Terrorism Trials in Canada Between
September 2001 and September 2018
Michael Nesbitt
Introduction
Within months of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the
World Trade Centre buildings in New York, Canada passed the Anti-
Terrorism Act, 2001, (ATA).2 In relevant part, the ATA enacted
Part 11.1 of the Criminal Code of Canada (Criminal Code)3
Canada's criminal terrorism offences.4 Since 2001, various other
I. Assistant Professor of Law, University of Calgary, Faculty of Law; Senior
Fellow with the Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies; and,
Fellow with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. The author wishes to
thank the Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security and Society
(TSAS) for generous funding, without which this research would not have
been possible. The author is also indebted to the indispensable research
assistance of Ian Wylie, who consistently provided insight, acumen and
patience whenever it was needed. A great debt of thanks are due last to Dana
Hagg, who provided a year of exceptional research assistance to get this
project off the ground and put together the initial databank of terrorism
cases. Both Dana and Ian also provided exceptional commentary on many of
the trends that we see stemming from the data to date. As always, any errors
and/or omissions are solely those of the author.
2. Anti-Terrorism Act, S.C. 2001, c. 41 [ATA].
3. See Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46 [Criminal Code], Part 11.1. For a
general background on this process, see Craig Forcese, National Security
Law: Canadian Practice in International Perspective (Toronto: Irwin Law,
2008) at 294-333 [Forcese, National Security Law].
4. Prior to 2001, the Criminal Code did contain terrorism offences found in s. 7
of the Criminal Code, though they tended to criminalize acts that treaties to
which Canada is a party required criminalizing, such as hostage taking on
airplanes. These offences were first introduced to the Criminal Code under
An Act to Amend the Criminal Code, S.C. 1959, c. 41, s. 3. However, it was
not until 1985 that s. 7 of the Criminal Code was amended to criminalize an
act of hostage-taking on Canadian aircraft, regardless of whether it occurred
in Canada. See Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1985, R.S.C. 1985, c. 27 at s.
5(2). In 2001, the ATA, supra note 2 amended s. 7 of the Criminal Code to
criminalized a range terrorism-related activity occurring outside Canada.
Though these s. 7 offences are rarely charged today and were not generally](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/clwqrty67&div=10&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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An Empirical Study of Terrorism Charges and Terrorism Trials in Canada between September 2001 and September 2018
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