Section 44 Report on Criminality Dismissed After Federal Court Intervention

We are pleased to share a successful outcome for our client who was facing a section 44 report alleging inadmissibility for criminality.

Before the report was referred to an admissibility hearing, our client was given an opportunity to respond to the allegations. The CBSA officer specifically requested humanitarian and compassionate submissions and confirmed they would be considered. However, after receiving those submissions, the officer reversed course, claiming they lacked jurisdiction to assess them and referred the report to an admissibility hearing.

Our litigation team filed an Application for Leave and for Judicial Review at the Federal Court, where leave was granted. We argued that once the officer requested and accepted humanitarian and compassionate submissions, they were required to assess them properly. It was an error to later disclaim jurisdiction. We also raised a breach of procedural fairness, as the allegations of criminality were based on documents our client had never been provided and which were not included with the section 44 report—preventing a full and meaningful response.

Following these arguments, CBSA withdrew the section 44 referral and confirmed the allegations would not be pursued. This rendered the Federal Court proceedings moot, and the matter was discontinued.

This was an excellent result for our client, who is no longer engaged in inadmissibility proceedings. The case underscores the importance of holding decision-makers to fairness and proper procedure, and reflects our firm’s commitment to vigorously protecting our clients’ procedural rights.