Catherine Solyom, Canwest News Service, Friday, November 28, 2008

MONTREAL - The show must go on, a federal court judge ruled Friday in the case of Adil Charkaoui, whose public trial is now set to begin Dec. 9 to determine whether the Montreal schoolteacher is a threat to national security.

It's still unclear who will get to see what evidence the federal government has to back up claims Charkaoui is an al-Qaida sleeper agent.

Almost six years into his detention under a security certificate, Charkaoui, 35, is under a broad form of house arrest. Judge Daniele Tremblay-Lamer agreed to postpone his trial by a day so it doesn't conflict with Quebec's provincial election.

She also agreed to grant the Quebec Bar Association intervener status on the matter of special advocates - lawyers appointed by the federal justice minister, who, for the first time in Canada, will be privy to evidence never seen by the accused or his lawyers, but will attempt to act on his behalf.

"It's important, because there are very serious questions about the role of special advocates that can put these lawyers in a very delicate situation," said Louis Belleau, of the Bar Association.

Special advocates were introduced in response to last year's Supreme Court decision that struck down the previous system of security certificates as unfair, because it denied defendants the fundamental right to see the case against them. Only a judge and government lawyers could participate.

Special advocates will now be able to test classified evidence presented by government witnesses, but they will not be able to communicate to the defendant what they learn without the judge's permission.

"The new law presents the same flaws as the old one," said Dominique Larochelle, one of Charkaoui's lawyers. "It takes away the lawyer's responsibility to defend the client."

he fact that the Bar Association will be able to intervene is "welcome and useful,"she said.

It was little comfort to Charkaoui, however, who will begin his public trial while a secret trial continues in his absence.

Last month, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service admitted it needed another six months to gather evidence. All it could present to the judge were intelligence reports, which the Supreme Court ruled in June were not sufficient to uphold a security certificate. The judge granted CSIS six weeks.

"Now I learn they never had any proof against me," Charkaoui said. "So they'll smear me again and say I'm a terrorist and then we'll wait another six months for evidence."