Case information

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Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

The Court of Appeal set out the following facts. The Appellant, a Canadian citizen, was indicted in the United States with twenty-eight other individuals on charges of securities fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. He was arrested in Ontario on a provisional warrant of arrest issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. At the extradition hearing, the Appellant conceded that there was sufficient evidence to commit him for extradition but he challenged the constitutionality of ss. 32(1)(a) and 33(1) of the Extradition Act, S.C. 1999, c. 18 (the "Act"). Sections 32 and 33, introduced as part of the new Act that came into force in 1999, eliminate the need for first-hand sworn evidence and permit the requesting state to proceed on the basis of an unsworn record of the case. The foreign prosecutor or judge is required only to provide a summary of the evidence and to certify that the evidence is available for the purposes of prosecution in the requesting state. The Appellant conceded that the extradition judge was bound by United States of America v. Yang (2001), 56 O.R. (3d) 52 (O.C.A.), which upheld the constitutionality of ss. 32 and 33 but he argued that Yang did not address the situation of a Canadian citizen being sought for extradition. The extradition judge dismissed the constitutional challenge and ordered the Appellant's surrender.

Following his committal, the Appellant directed written submissions to the Minister of Justice requesting he decline to order surrender on the grounds that it would violate ss. 6 and 7 of the Charter. The Minister dismissed the request and ordered the Appellant's surrender. The Appellant appealed from the extradition judge's decision and sought judicial review of the Minister's decision. The appeal and application were heard during the same week and by the same panel as the appeal in United States of America v. Latty and Wright (S.C.C. File No. 30295) and the decisions in both cases were released together. The Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed the appeal and the application for judicial review.