High Court Reprimands CSIS over policy of destroying evidence

Of course nothing will be done to punish the CSIS any more than anything was done to the RCMP or CSIS for their misdeeds re the Arar case. Intelligence operatives are the untouchables along with some special forces units operating in Afghanistan. There is zero accountability and an almost nil chance of anyone being held responsible for any wrongdoing. Harper is hard on crime except when the offences are committed in the war against terror. Some involved in the Arar affair have actually been promoted.
Destroying evidence was a policy. Given that evidence is destroyed it cannot be used against the CSIS or by suspects such as Charkaoui. Very convenient.

High court reprimands CSIS over policy of destroying evidence
Last Updated: Thursday, June 26, 2008 2:25 PM ET
CBC News
Adil Charkaoui flashes a victory sign in Montreal after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on his case Thursday. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)
The Supreme Court of Canada has scolded Canada's spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, for destroying classified evidence related to the case against a Montreal man accused of having links to terrorism.
However, the court in Ottawa unanimously decided Thursday that it will not halt the proceedings to have Adil Charkaoui deported to his native Morocco.
Charkaoui, a landed immigrant who came to Canada 13 years ago, was arrested in 2003 and imprisoned until 2005 under a controversial security certificate, used to hold foreign-born terrorism suspects without charge based on secret evidence.
"This is not a half victory, it's a full victory, even though I wasn't able to have the proceedings stopped," Charkaoui, 34, told reporters in Montreal after the decision was handed down.
"In 20 years, this is the first time CSIS is told to be careful of what it's done… For the first time, those people are told they cannot do this sort of thing. They cannot destroy evidence and put information in files that are nothing but summaries, with no context."
In preparing its case against Charkaoui, CSIS provided summaries of its agents' interviews with Charkaoui to a federal judge, but destroyed the original notes and taped conversations, in keeping with an internal CSIS policy designed to protect sensitive security information.
"The destruction of operational notes is a breach of CSIS duty to retain and disclose information," the Supreme Court wrote in a summary of its decision.
Original notes provide better info, court says
CSIS's duty to retain all intelligence is clearly outlined in Section 12 of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act, the Supreme Court said. The court said CSIS should be presenting all its evidence to judges in court cases, and those judges can determine what is safe to release to the public, and what is not.
"The meaning of the word 'intelligence' in Section 12 should not be limited to the summaries prepared by officers. The original operational notes are a better source of information and evidence," the court wrote.
The destroyed evidence in question came to light during a fourth review in Charkaoui's case at a Federal Court in January 2005. Government lawyers admitted CSIS had done two interviews with Charkaoui that they had inadvertently failed to disclose as evidence when Charkaoui's case began in 2003.