Lawyers for Omar Khadr — a Canadian citizen currently serving time in a Guantanamo Bay prison — have asked the federal court to force Public Safety Minister Vic Toews to make a decision as to whether Khadr can return to Canada to serve his prison sentence.

The application for judicial review was filed late Friday evening.

Khadr, who was 15 years old in 2002 when he was arrested by American forces, has been detained at the U.S. detention centre in Cuba for nearly a decade. In October 2010, he pleaded guilty to war crimes — namely throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier.

The 25-year-old is still in the United States military detention camp despite a November 2010 confirmation from the Canadian government that — as part of a plea agreement — he was eligible last fall to transfer to Canada to serve the remainder of his eight-year sentence.

His lawyers say the government has had more than enough time to make a decision and that "the Minister's unreasonable delay . . . is an abuse of process." In 2008, and again in 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Canadian government violated Khadr's Charter rights.

Toews was not available for comment Saturday, however his spokeswoman, Julie Carmichael, said in an emailed statement "we do not comment on matters before the court."

Carmichael said: "Omar Ahmed Khadr is a Canadian citizen that has pled guilty to the murder of an American Army medic. A decision must be made on his application in accordance with Canadian law."

"There is a public legal duty on the Minister to act," say the court documents, filed Friday. "The Minister has a statutory duty to render a decision in (Khadr's case) pursuant to the International Transfer of Offenders Act."

The court papers also say that Canada's part in interrogating Khadr before his trial "offends the most basic Canadian standards about the treatment of detained youth suspects."

He was sentenced to 40 years in prison but, under the plea deal, he only has to serve eight. After spending one additional year at Guantanamo, he became eligible to serve the remainder of his sentence in Canada nine months ago.

While Canada played no role in the plea deal, a diplomatic note sent to U.S. authorities indicated the Harper government was "inclined to favourably consider'' a request for transfer.

Khadr's lawyers are asking for the minister to make a decision "without delay" and, if successful, to award costs to Khadr.

Toews has 10 days to respond.

With files from Tobi Cohen

Tesmith(at)postmedia.com

Twitter.com/tsmithjourno