Rocco Galati

Rocco Galati
Born 1959
Calabria, Italy
Nationality Canadian
Occupation Lawyer

Rocco Galati (born 1959) is an Italian-born Canadian lawyer who specializes in cases involving constitutional law and also suspects of terrorism.[1]

Early life and education

Galati was born in Calabria, Italy and his family immigrated to Canada in 1965.[2] He graduated from McGill University in 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts and then graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1987.

Career

After his Call to the bar he worked at the federal Department of Justice.

In 2001, he defended Delmart Vreeland at trial.[3]

He was Abdurahman Khadr's first lawyer. Shortly after Khadr's first press conference Galati resigned from all his terrorism-related cases , after publishing a threat left on his answering machine which stated: "Well, Mr. Galati. What's this I hear about you working with the terrorist now, helping to get that (expletive) punk terrorist Khadr off. You a dead wop." Galati requested 24-hour surveillance of his house; when the RCMP refused to provide this, he declared that "we now live in Colombia because the rule of law is meaningless" and later indicated he believed the call came from American intelligence. Mr Galati went on to claim: '"The voice is similar and likely the same as a voice of someone who threatened one of our former clients," he said, adding later that "in that case, our client disappeared."'[4]

In 2006, he represented Ahmad Mustafa Ghany, a suspect in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case. On June 12 he alleged that the treatment of the prisoners and the handling of the case made it impossible for the accused to obtain a fair trial.

Galati is currently pursuing a case against the Canadian government to restore the original intended use of the Bank of Canada as a lender to the government.[5]

Galati challenged the appointment of Justice Marc Nadon to the Supreme Court of Canada,.[6][7] Galati argued, inter alia, that government advisor Ian Binnie, a retired Puisne Justice, reviewed Sections 5 and 6 of the Supreme Court Act but neglected Section 30, which deals with ensuring the court has quorum of at least five judges.[8] The Supreme Court did not accept Galati's argument that federal court judges from Quebec are not eligible for appointment to the permanent Quebec seats on the Supreme Court of Canada; however, the Court agreed (by a 6-to-1 margin) that Nadon did not meet the eligibility requirements of the Supreme Court and declared Justice Nadon's swearing-in as a judge of the Court void ab initio.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Nadon challenger Rocco Galati wonders why he had to clean up 'mess'
  2. ↑ The lawyer who challenged the Harper government and won The Globe and Mail
  3. ↑ USA V. Vreeland Three
  4. ↑ Terror suspect lawyer quits cases over threat, Toronto Star, December 5, 2003
  5. ↑ "Two Canadians and a Canadian Economic Think Tank Confront the Global Financial Powers in the Canadian Federal Court" (PDF). COMER. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  6. ↑ NP 10 Nov 2013 "Harper’s sixth Supreme Court nomination leads to rare legal mess at top bench"
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6, 2014 SCC 21
  8. ↑ "Constitutional lawyer Galati takes on legal Goliath over Supreme Court choice" Vancouver Province, 10 Nov 2013

External links