Privacy, Crime and Terror - Legal Rights and Security in a Time of Peril

"On the one hand stands the manifest evil of terrorism and the random and arbitrary taking of innocent lives, rippling out in an ever-widening spiral of loss and fear. Governments...need the legal tools to effectively meet this challenge.

On the other hand stands the need to ensure that those legal tools do not undermine values that are fundamental to our democratic society - liberty, the rule of law, and the principles of fundamental justice - values that lie at the heart of the Canadian constitutional order and the international instruments that Canada has signed. In the end it would be a Pyrrhic victory if terrorism were defeated at the cost of sacrificing our commitment to those values."

SCC in Suresh

Privacy, Crime and Terror - Legal Rights and Security in a Time of Peril is the first Canadian criminal law text about the complex relationships between criminal law, terrorism, and national security. It explores these critical questions:

• How do changes to legislation, public policy, and the legal environment affect the everyday lives of Canadians?
• If we must sacrifice some of our freedoms for greater security, is privacy destined to erode?
• Are changes in the area of national security harming the traditional justice system?

Stanley A. Cohen, LL.M., is a recognized legal expert in the fields of individual liberties, criminal law, and national security. He has been cited in the Supreme Court of Canada's most recent decision on the constitutionality of the investigative hearing provisions of the Anti-terrorism Act, among many other cases.

Features and Benefits

Knowing what is being done to protect Canada from terrorist and criminal activity has become everyone's responsibility. Privacy, Crime and Terror - Legal Rights and Security in a Time of Peril will help you to understand:

• Whether privacy laws apply to personal information and electronic communications.
• The nature of government oversight and control of national security policies.
• Whether further safeguards against criminal and terrorist activity are required.
• Whether we have achieved an acceptable balance between privacy and security.

Privacy

• What is privacy exactly?
• How can Canada accommodate reasonable requests for vital information, while protecting individual privacy and constitutional rights?

National Security

• How adequate are current definitions of "national security" and "terrorism"?
• What security legislation has changed since 9/11?
• How has Canada cooperated with other countries to acquire and share information?

  The Role of Information Technology

• What modern tools does the government use to track criminal and terrorist activity?
• What implications does the use of these tools hold for individual privacy?