Terms of Reference for Review of National Security Information

On Saturday the Federal government released the terms of reference for the Iacobucci inquiry on Afghan detainees.

The report will include recommendations about what information should be disclosed in light of national security and international relations interests, and if any of the information is subject to solicitor-client privilege. The documents reviewed will include those listed in the December 10, 2009 motion by the House:

• correspondences between Richard Colvin and the Department of Foreign Affairs
• human rights reports to the Department of Foreign Affairs
• those listed in Amnesty International Canada and British Columbia Civil Liberties Association v. Chief of the Defence Staff for the Canadian Forces, Minister of National Defence and Attorney General of Canada
• productions in the Military Police Complaints Commission in the Afghanistan Public Interest Hearings
• other related documents

The government has refused to fully reveal the documents to MPs without a court order on national security grounds, but Prof. Errol Mendes has stated that parliamentary privilege already grants them the right to the documents.

A press release accompanying the terms states that the review on disclosure ensures that MPs will receive access to the appropriate information, after an independent review.