Frank Iacobucci, the retired Supreme Court justice appointed to review documents on the Afghan detainee controversy that Parliament ordered released last December, will serve on a three-person panel advising MPs currently examining the material.

Retired Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci speaks during a news conference in 2008. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Iacobucci, along with fellow former Supreme Court justice Claire L'Heureux-Dubé and former B.C. Supreme Court judge Donald Brenner, will sift through thousands of pages of sensitive material related to Afghan detainee transfers, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson announced Wednesday in a release.

Under an agreement reached last month by three of the four parties in the House of Commons, the three justices are charged with determining whether relevant documents are to be released publicly and by what method the material can be released.

A panel of MPs from the government, the Liberals and Bloc Québécois began examining the material last week.

The composition of the jurist panel was agreed to unanimously by the government and the two opposition parties participating in the documents review, Nicholson said.

NDP decries 'sham' committee

The NDP is boycotting the process, saying MPs will not be able to examine first-hand all material on the detainee transfers.

New Democrat MP Malcolm Allen said his party objects to Iacobucci's selection, insisting Iacobucci is in a conflict of interest because his previous appointment to review the material means he reports to the justice minister.

"Mr. Iacobucci had a conflict of interest and still has one," Allen told reporters on Wednesday in Ottawa. "He's their employee."

The Liberals said they insisted upon and received assurances that Iacobucci’s retainer with Justice Canada was terminated prior to the new appointment.

"We have full confidence in the panel members' ability to act independently and in accordance with the public interest," Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale said in a statement.

Allen also labelled the document-vetting process a "sham" because opposition MPs on the committee can't report independently without the consent of the government.

MPs are investigating allegations that prisoners handed over by Canadian soldiers to Afghan custody were subsequently tortured.

Last month, House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken approved the agreement between the Conservative government and two opposition parties on the formation of the committee and the jurist panel, saying an "overwhelming majority" of MPs backed the deal.

In April, Milliken ruled the Conservatives breached parliamentary privilege by denying MPs access to uncensored versions of the documents, and called on all parties to reach a compromise regarding the documents that would respect Parliament's right to review the material, while also ensuring national security concerns are addressed.

The Conservatives and the Canadian military have steadfastly denied that Canada knowingly turned over prisoners to face torture at the hands of Afghan authorities, which would constitute a war crime.

But the government has refused to make public thousands of pages of documents related to the transfers without major redactions.