TORONTO, ONTARIO — With five suspected Muslim terrorists caught in legal limbo, a freshly minted group of special advocates tasked with testing the government’s secret evidence against the men could find themselves stymied by an upcoming secret hearing that raises questions about Canada’s revamped national security legislation.

Under the new law, foreigners detained as a security risk can appoint one of the advocates to gain access to the highly classified intelligence about them, although the information would remain off-limits to the accused terrorist and his lawyer.

In the cases of lawyers Paul Copeland and John Norris, the government is objecting to their acting as special advocates for three of the accused, several of whom they’ve represented for years, on conflict-of-interest grounds – but won’t say what those grounds are, citing national safety issues.

For Copeland and Norris, who have spent years trying to come to grips with information they weren’t allowed to see, the sudden turn came as both a surprise and disappointment.

“These are very important issues relating to fundamental justice and relating to how Canada manages some very important issues,” Copeland said.

The chief justice of the Federal Court will now hold secret hearings later this month to decide whether the government’s objections are valid, but the two lawyers will be excluded.

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