Paul Copeland C.M. (born February 19, 1940) is a retired Toronto-based human rights lawyer, who is widely known as the defence attorney of security certificate detainee

Mohamed Harkat Mohamed Harkat ( ar, محمد حركات) (born August 6, 1968, Algeria) is a native-born Algerian and permanent resident of Canada who was arrested in 2002 on suspicion of ties to terrorism and was imprisoned under security certificates. The Cana ...

, and an avid supporter of

legal aid Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to co ...

. Copeland co-founded the Law Union of Ontario in 1974 and was the Vice-President of the Criminal Lawyers' Association from 1985 to 1991 and was for several years the co-president of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted until the fall of 2008. He was elected a Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada from 1990 to 2007, and was then made a life bencher of the society. He has been a retired life bencher since 2022. He has served as vice-chair of its Legal Aid Committee and as chair of its Equity and Aboriginal Issues Committee. He has been a leader of the Canadian Campaign for Free Burma. In June 2006 he argued in the Supreme Court of Canada on behalf of Mohamed Harkat that the security certificate procedure under the immigration and

Refugee Protection Act A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

violated the fundamental justice provisions of Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom. In February 2007 the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously agreed with that argument and held that the procedure violated fundamental justice. In February 2008 he was granted Top Secret National Security clearance. In June 2008 he was appointed as a special advocate for Mohamed Harkat and for

Hassan Almrei Hassan Ahmed Almrei ( ar, حسن أحمد المرعي also childhood name ''Abu al-Hareth'') (born in Syria on January 1, 1974),Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Summary of the Security Intelligence Report concerning Hassan Almrei, February ...

in the security certificate proceedings against them. The security certificate in regard to Mr. Almrei was found to be unreasonable by Justice Mosley on December 14, 2010. The Security Certificate against Mohamed Harkat was found to be reasonable in December 2010.

Awards

*In 2006, Copeland was awarded the Sidney B. Linden Award by Legal Aid Ontario, in recognition of his work. * In 2007 Copeland was awarded the G. Arthur Martin medal for outstanding contribution to criminal justice, 2007 * On December 30, 2010 Copeland was made a Member of the Order of Canada.Officers of the Order of Canada
gazette.gc.ca * In April, 2013 Copeland was awarded the Law Society Medal by the Law Society of Upper Canada In 2019, it was reported to the Toronto Police - 51 Division that Paul Copeland had tried to sexually assault a Canadian Woman Buddhist Minister who works with the Toronto Police Buddhist Chaplain Bhante Saranapala. Paul Copeland had been signing a Canadian Passport for the woman Buddhist Minister when he attempted to sexually assault her in his apartment. He then claimed that she was not a Canadian and threatened her life. This is a public record and the Buddhist community considers it a hate crime.

References

Lawyers in Ontario Living people Members of the Order of Canada 1940 births Canadian civil rights lawyers {{Canada-law-bio-stub