Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University Schulich Law Scholars Articles, Book Chapters, & Blogs Faculty Scholarship 9-23-2020 Wrongful Extradition: Reforming the Committal Phase of Canada's Extradition Law Robert Currie
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.schulichlaw.dal.ca/scholarly_works Part of the Criminal Law Commons, and the Human Rights Law Commons Recommended Citation Robert J Currie, "Wrongful Extradition: Reforming the Committal Phase of Canada's Extradition Law" (23 September 2020), online: SSRN, < https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664754 > [https://perma.cc/VPE8-XR2J]. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at Schulich Law Scholars. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articles, Book Chapters, & Blogs by an authorized administrator of Schulich Law Scholars. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Wrongful Extradition: Reforming the Committal Phase of Canada’s Extradition Law ROBERT J. CURRIE* ABSTRACT There has recently been an upswing in interest around extradition in Canada, particularly in light of the high-profile and troubling case of Hassan Diab who was extradited to France on the basis of what turned out to be an ill-founded case. Diab’s case highlights some of the problems with Canada’s Extradition Act and proceedings thereunder. This paper argues that the “committal stage” of extradition proceedings, involving a judicial hearing into the basis of the requesting state’s case, is unfair and may not be compliant with the Charter and that the manner in which the Crown conducts these proceedings contributes to this unfairness. It also argues that regardless of the Act’s constitutionality, in light of Diab and other disturbing cases, the time is ripe for law reform to ensure that * Professor of Law, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University.