Special advocates are generally prohibited from discussing any evidence that has been the subject of closed proceedings with the excluded party.
They are most often used in the context of cases involving national security but have also been used in other matters, including parole board hearings and data protection claims.
[1] On February 23, 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Charkaoui that the security certificate provisions in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act were unconstitutional because the process violated the rights of persons named in a certificate to a fair hearing.
The Supreme Court of Canada suspended the declaration of invalidity for one year to give Parliament time to amend the security certificate legislation.
This legislation adds a special advocate regime to security certificate and related proceedings under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.