Fugitive Rights: The Role of the Charter in Extradition Cases

AMANDA J. SPENCER

ABSTRACT

Fugitives who attempt to take advantage of Charter protections in their fight against extradition face an uphill battle in the light of the tests established by the majority decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada in six extradition cases. The majority has adopted a highly deferential standard that emphasizes international comity and the executive's experience in international matters. Dissenting judgments that proposed a broader interpretation of the Charter guarantees have not succeeded in modifying the restrictive approach taken to date. Canada is not unique in addressing the issue of the role of human rights in extradition cases. Similar questions have arisen in Europe and, to a lesser extent, in the United States. What remains to be seen, as future cases arise in Canada, is whether the Supreme Court will expand and clarify the circumstances in which Charter protection is available to an extraditee, or whether it will continue to hold that an extradition will rarely, if ever, violate the Charter.

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Citation: (1993) 51(1) U.T. Fac. L. Rev. 54.
Copyright © 1993. University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review.
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