Case information

Administrative law — Charter of Rights — Right to liberty and security of person — Cruel and unusual punishment or treatment — Extradition — Surrender Decision — Whether the Court of Appeal erred in reviewing the Minister’s surrender decision on a standard of reasonableness — Whether the Court of Appeal erred in concluding that the Minister’s consideration of sentencing disparities and ss. 7 and 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was not unreasonable

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.

(PUBLICATION BAN ON PARTY) (PUBLICATION BAN IN CASE)

The applicant is sought for extradition by the United States of America. After his extradition hearing, he was committed into custody pending the Minister’s decision on surrender. The applicant submitted to the Minister that his surrender would be “unjust or oppressive” within the meaning of s. 44 of the Extradition Act or in breach of the principles of fundamental justice under s. 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, due to the disparity between the likely sentence if the applicant were convicted in the US and the likely sentence for a conviction in Canada. The applicant also asked the Minister to consider s. 12 of the Charter and the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.

The Minister accepted the disparity in sentence was significant. The Minister found the applicant’s likely sentence in the U.S.A. would be between 41.33 years to life imprisonment, compared to a likely sentence in Canada of six to nine years’ imprisonment. The Minister concluded that the disparity did not warrant a refusal to surrender. The Court of Appeal reviewed the Minister’s decision on a standard of reasonableness; it concluded that the Minister’s decision was not unreasonable and dismissed the application for judicial review.