It was with shock and sorrow that I read last week’s decision by the Federal Court, which represents a judgement without justice. For Sophie and Mo’s sake, I wish with all my heart that the outcome had been different. But I also recognize that any decision about the reasonableness of a security certificate is ultimately the outcome of a fundamentally unjust process. In a democratic society, no single judge should have the ability to make such sweeping decisions about a person’s fate without affording that person the opportunity to meet the case against them in open court. Last week’s decision reinforces the fact that Canada’s courts are willing participants in a two-tiered system of justice that is deferential to the claims of the national security state. The Federal Court has had numerous opportunities to take a pro-active stance in support of human rights, but has instead worked to support the unconstitutional security certificate regime. The result is a hollowing-out – an evisceration – of the rule of law. The need to push for the abolition of security certificates has never been more apparent. This mechanism is incompatible with fundamental principles of justice, equality, transparency and due process. No amount of tweaking and tinkering will be able to ‘fix’ a system that can subject a person to eight years of imprisonment, control, and uncertainty on the basis of a secret file. Let’s harness our shock and indignation and channel it towards the abolition of secret trials and an end to the politics of fear and exclusion. Forever in solidarity, Mike Larsen Mike Larsen, Researcher, York Centre for International and Security Studies [link] Managing Editor, Journal of Prisoners on Prisons [link]