On November 5, 2024, Dimitri Lascaris and six other lawyers from across Canada filed an historic lawsuit against Canada’s federal government.

On the following day, they held a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to announce the litigation and to explain its legal basis. This video includes their full press conference, as well as brief statements made by two of the lawyers after the press conference concluded.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are two Palestinian-Canadians, Hany El-Batnigi and Tamer Jarada. Their families have been devastated by Israel’s war on Gaza. They allege that Justin Trudeau’s government has violated its duty under Article 1 of the Genocide Convention to prevent genocide, and has violated their rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The six lawyers with whom Lascaris has launched this litigation are Professor Faisal Bhabha, Professor Emilio Dabed, Jouman El-Asmar, Yavar Hameed, Shane Martinez and Asaf Rashid.

The lawsuit is being funded by the Legal Centre for Palestine (LCP). You can support the lawsuit by donating to LCP here: https://www.lcpal.ca/support-our-case.