Extradition Under the Canadian Charter

Domestic Rights and International Responsibilities: Extradition Under the Canadian Charter Paul Michell t I. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 142 A. Problems of Extraditionand CanadianLaw ........................................ 142 B. Unresolved Questions About the Application of the Charterto Extradition ... 143 1. How Should ConstitutionalJudicial Review Be Exercised in Extradition Cases?.............................................. 143 2. What Is the Relevance of the Treatment to Which the Fugitive Will Be Subjected in the Requesting State? ................. 145 3. What Degree of ConstitutionalProtection Should Be Accorded to CanadianCitizens in Extradition Cases? ................... 147 C. Overview................................................................................... 148 I. STANDARDS OF REvIEw .......................................................................... 150 A. ConstitutionalJudicial Review of the SurrenderDecision ........................ 150 B. Section 7, FundamentalJustice, and Standardsof Review ....................... 153 1. Introduction: Section 7Review ............................................... 153 2. The Supreme Court of Canada'sStandard of Review in Extradition Cases .................................................. 155 3. Soering's Legacy ................................................................ 156 4. The Non-Inquiry Standard..................................................... 159 5. The Domestic Threshold Standard ........................................... 161 C. Wry the Residual Threshold Standard is Desirable................................ 163 1. The Residual Threshold Standard............................................ 163 2. The InternationalPublic Interest ............................................. 164 3. The Charterand Extradition Treaties ....................................... 165 4. The Unworkability of the Domestic Threshold Standard................. 166 5. A Margin of Appreciation ..................................................... 171 6. Trust in the Requesting State .................................................. 173 7. Executive DiscretionNot to Extraditeor to Require Assurances ....... 174 M. TREATMENT OF THE FUGITIVE IN THE REQUESTING STATE ................................. 176 A. Introduction............................................................................... 176 B. Difficulty in Applying the "Shocks the Conscience" and "Simply Unacceptable" Tests .......................................................... 177 C. ProceduralElements of Review ........................................................ 181 1. Degree of Scrutiny of ForeignLaw and Evidence of Human Rights Violations in the Requesting State ......................... 181 2. What Must the Fugitive Demonstrate? ...................................... 183 3. Application of Section 12 of the Charter.................................... 185 4. ProceduralDue Process in the Requesting State .......................... 190 t Associate, Tory Tory DesLauriers & Binnington, Toronto. I am grateful to Sujit Choudhry, Mark Drumbl, and Jasminka Kalajdzic for their helpful comments on earlier drafts. Errors are mine alone. 142 YALE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW [Vol. 23: 141 D. Substantive Elements of Review ....................................................... 193 1. Introduction...................................................................... 193 2. Proportionality.................................................................. 193 3. The Death Penalty .............................................................. 200 4. The Fugitive Offenders Act .................................................... 203 5. Conflict of Lmvs Jurisprudence............................................... 205 E. Policy Considerations:The Safe Haven Argument ................................. 209 F. Conclusion ................................................................................ 210 IV. CANADIAN CmzENsHip INTHE EXTRADITION PROCESS .................................... 211 A . Introduction ............................................................................... 211 B. The Relevance of CanadianCitizenship to the Extradition Process............. 213 1. Cotroni and Its Aftermath ..................................................... 213 2. The Alleged InterrelationshipBetween Section 6 and Section 7 of the Charterand the Obligation to Prosecute in Canada ........................................................................ 215 C. Relevance of Citizenship in Cases Where the Fugitive Could be Prosecuted in Canada ............................................................... 219 D. Review of the SurrenderDecision and the Good Faith of the Executive ....... 224 E. Summary ................................................................................... 228 V. CONCLUSION ....................................................................................... 229 I. INTRODUCTION A. Problems of Extradition and CanadianLaw Most problems of modem extradition law can be encapsulated in a sin- gle proposition: International borders are at once essential, yet unimportant. They are essential because the world is divided into sovereign states, each with its own government and system of criminal justice, and unimportant because the speed and ease of movement across borders in the twentieth cen- tury has enabled fugitives to evade the law enforcement authorities of one state by fleeing to another. The paradox is that fugitives wish to take advan- tage of this ease of travel while reserving the right to seek the protections of one state's law against extradition to another. All states that have entered into extradition treaties and possess a domestic legal system for the protection of human rights face the same problem. An effective and efficient network of extradition treaties serves the public interest. Extradition is of cardinal importance to the efforts of states to combat crime. States seek to secure the return of fugitives who have fled to other states and to return fugitives who have fled to their shores to face justice abroad. At the same time, they must avoid trammelling the rights of fugitives. Historically, this concern has been largely overlooked. Only in re- cent years have the courts grappled with the difficult balancing exercise that weighs the imperatives of the public interest against the protection of indi- vidual liberties. Canada has been at the forefront of attempts to strike the right balance in extradition law between public goals and private rights. The introduction 1998] Extradition Under the Canadian Charter of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms' in 1982 introduced constitutional judicial review on substantive grounds to Canada for the first time. Since then, the Supreme Court of Canada has decided several important extradition cases. Each decision has addressed how the advent of the Charter has affected Canada's extradition legislation and system of international treaties and, specifically, how the newly guaranteed rights of fugitives can be protected without making the extradition system unworkable. The interaction between the Charter and Canadian extradition law raises fundamental questions about the nature and scope of Charter adjudica- tion.2 It also highlights the relationship between domestic and international law and, especially, the role of international law in the development and ar- ticulation of domestic constitutional norms. This Article argues that when faced with abstract Charter provisions in the extradition context, courts should look to international human rights norms as an interpretative guide. In addition, courts should refer to other relevant domestic legislation. Finally, this Article contends that courts should consider the manner in which foreign law is treated in conflict of laws cases as an appropriate analogy for extradition cases. B. Unresolved Questions About the Application of the Charter to Extradi- tion 1. How Should ConstitutionalJudicial Review Be Exercised in Ex- tradition Cases? Canada has long been a party to treaties enabling it to extradite fugitives, both Canadian citizens and foreigners, to foreign states. 3 The international obligations stemming from these treaties have been implemented in domestic law.4 The advent of the Charter has subjected this legislation to 1. CAN. CoNsr. (Constitution Act, 1982) pt. I (Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms) [hereinafter Charter]. 2. Extradition is "the surrender by one state to another, on request, of persons accused or con- victed of committing a crime in the state seeking the surrender." R. v. Schmidt [1987] 1 S.C.R. 500, 514 (can.). 3. Most of the extradition treaties to which Canada is a party are listed in ANNE WARNER LA FoREsr, LA FoREsT's E nTRADoN TO AND FROM CANADA 359-86 (3d ed. 1991). 4. Extradition is governed by the Extradition Act, R.S.C., ch. E-23 (1985) (Can.), as amended. Rendition is the equivalent of extradition between Commonwealth states and is governed by the Fugitive Offenders Act, R.S.C., ch. F-32 (1985) (Can.). On the distinction between extradition and rendition, see Chan c. Directrice de la Maison Tanguay [1996] R.J.Q. 335 (Que. Super. Ct.) (Can.), aft'd, [1996] 113 C.C.C.3d 270 (Que. C.A.) (Can.), leave to appeal refused, [1997] 114 C.C.C.3d vi (Can.); Commonwealth of Australia v. Cousins [1992] O.J. No. 598 (Ont. Prov. Div.) (Can.); Great Britain v. Taylor [1988] 5 W.C.B.2d

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