Resumen de Does the " Charter " Float ? The Application of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to Canada's Policing of High Seas Fisheries

Drew Tyler

• The majority judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada in R v Hape held that, in general, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not apply to Canadian government agents when they are acting in foreign state territory. This comment considers whether this rule should extend to high seas interdictions, by Canadian agents, of foreign-flagged vessels. In particular, it considers the potential application of the Charter to Canada's policing of high seas fisheries. It concludes that the legal regimes governing high seas fisheries are sufficiently distinct from those pertaining to state territory, that the rule in Hape should not apply to high seas interdictions, and that the Charter should therefore apply to Canada's high seas fisheries policing activities.