warbirds,

On the 2 occasions when the SCC was called upon to rule on whether Omar Khadr's constitutional rights were violated, the entitlement to damages and the amount to which he would be entitled were not at issue.  Damages issues are usually determined at trial and not on appear and this was the case here.

The decision, therefore, facing the new Liberal Government was whether to litigate the damages issues at great cost to the Canadian taxpayer knowing that (a) Khadr's entitlement to damages would be a foregone conclusion given the earlier SCC rulings, and (b) the lower courts would not take kindly to a Government using its deep pockets to delay justice further in this sad saga.

The Government wisely chose to respect the spirit of the law and avoid added expense (including possible additional punitive damages), judicial criticism and sure defeat.

Surely we don't want our Government using the courts for partisan political ends.