回复: 87.4对诉讼的影响 87.3对所有移民积案的影响
昨天的帖子详细说明了Tim的案子不是告C38的,虽然6月5号开庭判决的时候C38近在咫尺了,但Justice Rennie突破CIC的重重蛊惑,宣布当时还没通过的C38法律不能用来解决这个诉讼组。这里有几个时间点值得提一下:TIM的案子在联邦法庭正式起步的时间是2011年10月28号,CIC宣布用C38一刀切28万人的时间是2012年3月29号(我的第一个ID也在那天废掉),TIM的案子的终审判决的时间是6月14号,C38法律通过的时间是6月29号。Justice Rennie在6月5开庭后日夜奋战让判决书在6月14发布,成功把C38甩在了我们身后。
那么什么时间是其他律师告C38的官司起点呢?应该是在5月底,Justice Barnes第一次开了律师大会,当时所有告CIC的律师都参加了。这次开会之前TIM很紧张,害怕他的案子被其他告C38的87.4违宪官司吞并,最后被证明是虚惊一场,我们的官司仍然是2011年的诉求。
也就是说从5月底到现在大半年,才是87.4违宪官司的前期准备程序。假如律师们坚持要做集体诉讼,明年1月还开不了庭,因为Justice Barnes态度很坚定不让集体诉讼成案,集体诉讼被他否决后要想继续申请就要上诉到联邦上诉院,这样下来,一个87.4违宪的前期准备就要花近两年时间。幸好这些律师们为了照顾参加的人的利益,选择在2013年1月马上开庭。
Tim为了避免被87.4违宪官司卷入,对这类官司相关的活动一般都不参加,比如9月18的禁制令申请会。但是9月19他得知28万人的禁制令被否决后,马上感到形势很险恶,虽然他没有做集体诉讼,但Justice Barnes倾向CIC的态度对所有律师都不是好事。于是他当时火速写了一篇媒体发布稿给了Toronto Star,Globe and Mail等几十家媒体,还和Toronto Star的移民专栏记者Nichola Keung通电话半小时,但不幸的是包括Toronto Star在内的所有媒体都没报道。
However, in view of Justice Barnes’ comments at the September 18th hearing on the injunction, revealing a reluctance to rule against the wishes of Jason Kenney, there is no certainty that he grant the motion seeking to require CIC to honour the Agreement it filed with Justice Barnes. In the legal apartheid of immigration law, decisions on motions may not ordinarily be appealed. Thus, Justice Barnes has, in effect, carte blanche to rule anyway he wishes.
法官倾向CIC的态度给动议获批增加了难度。根据移民法,动议motion一般没有上诉的余地,Justice Barnes爱怎么判决都随他便。
CIC’s major objection to the motion is the fact that applicants have joined the unfairCIC.com litigation since the June 14th decision in Liang. At this point nearly 400 have done so, following Justice Barnes June 26th stating that they may do so. This concern reveals that CIC knows that Justice Barnes has the authority to enforce the Agreement because, if he did not, the litigants would become a part of the “class-action” lawsuit, which has the potential of having 85,000+ litigants. Thus, it would not matter whether those 400 were a part of the group Tim Leahy represents or of one of the other lawyers.
CIC对动议的最大反对是不同意6月14以后继续加人。这一点说明了CIC意识到法官有强制它遵守协议的权威。
Justice Barnes revealed on September 18th that he is not comfortable ruling against Jason Kenney, preferring instead to have counsel for both sides reach their own agreement. The test of this approach, however, will come when he rules on the unfairCIC.com motion. If Justice Barnes refuse to enforce the Agreement, he will make clear that applicants’ counsel should never sign an agreement with Immigration Canada because it may break the agreement, and the Federal Court will stand by, doing nothing. Likewise, if Justice Barnes refuses to enforce the Agreement and refuses to set the other litigants’ cases down for hearings, he demonstrate that “managed proceedings” area fraud.
Justie Barnes在9月18表达了反对集体诉讼认同单独诉讼,律师们各自去和CIC解决问题的观点。他对TIM的动议如何判决将成为检验这种形式的诉讼的试金石。如果他否决了动议,那就等于向其他所有律师宣布了永远不要和CIC签订协议,因为CIC可以轻易撕毁协议,而联邦法庭则不闻不问,这样Justice Barnes反对集体诉讼认同单独诉讼的做法根本就是骗人的。
Justice Barnes现在已经让集体诉讼流产,各律师的单独诉讼也安排好了时间开庭,却依然不对动议做任何判决。根据TIM上面的分析,对动议无论做出什么样的判决都会让Justice Barnes陷入尴尬的境地。
那么可以大胆想象,加拿大的司法部门可能对28万人告一刀切违宪的官司有了内定的判决,无论是否定集体诉讼还是法官如何分工等等细节都有了安排。Justice Barnes6月和7月去休假不判决动议是借口,他从5月底召集律师们开会就对后续的所有进展有了安排,TIM的614前后所有参加人也都留给了另一位法官Rennie来安排。这到底是怎样的安排,虽然线索一天比一天明朗,但仍然感觉像走在迷宫里。