Case information

Administrative law — Charter — Extradition — Surrender Decision — Whether Court of Appeal erred in holding that Minister’s surrender decision was not unreasonable — Whether Minister properly considered offer to plead guilty in Canada — Whether surrender for extradition unjustifiably infringes right to remain in Canada under section 6(1) of the Charter — Whether Minister required to justify decision not to refer matter for domestic prosecution — Whether Court of Appeal erred in dismissing application for judicial review — Whether factors in United States of America v. Cotroni; United States of America v. El Zein, [1989] 1 S.C.R. 1469 properly applied or need clarification

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 applicant is sought for extradition by the United States of America. He consented to his committal for extradition after his application for a stay of proceedings was dismissed. The applicant submitted to the Minister of Justice that his surrender would be “unjust or oppressive” within the meaning of s. 44 of the Extradition Act or infringe the right to remain in Canada protected under s. 6(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The applicant submitted that he should be permitted to plead guilty in Canada.

The Minister concluded that the factors in Cotroni favoured extradition over a domestic prosecution, and the Minister ordered that the applicant be surrendered for extradition. 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.