Case information

Charter of Rights – Liberty and security of person – Fundamental justice – Extradition – Committal hearings – Whether Court of Appeal’s interpretation of extradition legislation relating to evidence at committal phase reflects the right to a meaningful judicial determination in compliance with principles of fundamental justice protected by s. 7 of the Charter – Whether the Court of Appeal’s novel formulation of the standards of review is correct – Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s. 7.

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 United States, represented by the Attorney General of Canada, seeks extradition of the applicant to stand trial on drug trafficking charges. The case against the applicant presented in the Record of the Case is that he trafficked in illicit drugs through an anonymous marketplace called Silk Road that operated from around January 2011 until early October 2013, when it was shut down by U.S. authorities. The trafficking took place through an account named MarijuanaIsMyMuse. Drugs were paid for on Silk Road by Bitcoin. Following a committal hearing conducted pursuant to s. 24(1) of the Extradition Act, S.C. 1999, c. 18, the extradition judge refused extradition and discharged the applicant. The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, set aside the discharge order, ordered the applicant to be committed for extradition to the U.S.A.