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Migration Jurisprudence from the South › Canada

Suresh v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration)

Supreme Court of Canada · Canada · 2002-01-11 · National court

Citation: 2002 SCC 1
Type of case: Constitutional and human rights
Outcome: Decided for the migrant side

Question

May Canada deport a refugee to a country where he faces a substantial risk of torture?

What the court decided

Generally no. Deportation to torture will usually breach section 7, and the person must receive the material relied on and a chance to respond.

In plain language

A Sri Lankan refugee was ordered deported as a security risk although he might be tortured. The Supreme Court said this would generally be unconstitutional and sent the case back.

Dalam bahasa sederhana

Seorang pengungsi Sri Lanka diperintahkan dideportasi sebagai risiko keamanan meski bisa disiksa. MA menyatakan ini umumnya inkonstitusional dan mengembalikan perkaranya.

Pertanyaan: Bolehkah Kanada mendeportasi pengungsi ke negara tempat ia menghadapi risiko besar penyiksaan?

What happened afterwards

  • 2002-01-11: Judgment.

Sources

Open this decision in the interactive collection (compare, filter, Indonesian view, downloads).

Cite as: Institute for Migrant Rights (2026), Migration Jurisprudence from the South, version 0.1, https://theimr.org/court-decisions/d/ca-suresh-2002/. This page summarizes a court decision for research and advocacy; it is not legal advice.

For researchers

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Keywords: case law; jurisprudence; judicial decisions; comparative constitutional law; courts and migration; judicial behavior; litigation outcomes; refugee law; non-refoulement; citizenship and nationality; empirical legal studies; empirical legal scholarship; quantitative legal research; statistical analysis in law; law and economics; law and economics of migration; comparative law; socio-legal studies; legal pluralism; migration law; labor migration; migrant workers’ rights; human rights law; access to justice; Global South; Asia; Africa; Middle East; Latin America; Indonesia; open data; replication data.