Re Burley

Last updated
Re Burley (1865)
CourtCourt of Common Pleas of Upper Canada
Citation(s)1 U.C.L.J. 34

Re Burley (1865), 1 U.C.L.J. 34, was a decision on extradition by the Court of Common Pleas of Upper Canada. Though made two years before Confederation, the case has been cited by the Supreme Court of Canada in mobility rights and extradition cases over a century later.

Contents

Decision

The decision was made by Sir William Buell Richards, who would later go on to become the first Chief Justice of Canada after the Supreme Court of Canada was established in 1875. Richards was faced with a case in which a British subject who was going to be extradited to the United States claimed that by virtue of his nationality, he had a right to stay in Canada. Richards upheld the extradition as a matter of treaty law and noted Canadian statutes that seemed to recognize such extradition as legal:

Whatever may be considered to have been the general rule in relation to a government surrendering its own subjects to a foreign government, I cannot say I have any doubt, that under the treaty and our own statute, a British subject who is in other respects brought within the law, cannot legally demand that he ought not to be surrendered merely because he is a natural born subject of Her Majesty. [1]

Precedent

Even after Confederation, the creation of Canadian citizenship and the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which recognized freedom of movement in section 6, the case was cited by the Supreme Court. In Canada v. Schmidt (1987), [2] the case was cited to state that Canada should trust the nations to which it extradites people carry out trials. In United States of America v. Cotroni (1989), [3] the Court upheld an extradition as a justified limit on section 6 and noted that the limit was partially reinforced by the fact that extradition had been allowed for "well over one hundred years" and thus "extradition has been part of the fabric of our law.

Re Burley was cited to make the point that since criminals can easily escape from the US to Canada, it had been "imperative that little leniency be accorded citizens in this regard."

Later, in the Supreme Court case United States v. Burns (2001), the Court was faced with the claim that Canadian citizens faced with extradition to the US had a right to stay and be tried in Canada. The Court cited Re Burley to state, "Traditionally, nationality has afforded no defence to extradition from Canada."

Related Research Articles

In law, standing or locus standi is a condition that a party seeking a legal remedy must show they have, by demonstrating to the court, sufficient connection to and harm from the law or action challenged to support that party's participation in the case. A party has standing in the following situations:

<i>Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms</i> 1982 Canadian constitutional legislation

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, often simply referred to as the Charter in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982. The Charter guarantees certain political rights to Canadian citizens and civil rights of everyone in Canada from the policies and actions of all governments in Canada. It is designed to unify Canadians around a set of principles that embody those rights. The Charter was proclaimed in force by Queen Elizabeth II of Canada on April 17, 1982, as part of the Constitution Act, 1982.

Canadian federalism involves the current nature and historical development of the federal system in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Extradition</span> Transfer of a suspect from one jurisdiction to another by law enforcement

In an extradition, one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdictions and depends on the arrangements made between them. In addition to legal aspects of the process, extradition also involves the physical transfer of custody of the person being extradited to the legal authority of the requesting jurisdiction.

In Canadian law, a reference question or reference case is a submission by the federal or a provincial government to the courts asking for an advisory opinion on a major legal issue. Typically the question concerns the constitutionality of legislation.

Section 6 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is the section of the Canadian Constitution that protects the mobility rights of Canadian citizens, and to a lesser extent that of permanent residents. By mobility rights, the section refers to the individual practice of entering and exiting Canada, and moving within its boundaries. The section is subject to the section 1 Oakes test, but cannot be nullified by the notwithstanding clause.

<i>Reference Re Ng Extradition</i> Supreme Court of Canada case

Reference Re Ng Extradition was a 1991 case in which the Supreme Court of Canada held that it was permissible to extradite Charles Ng, a fugitive, to the United States, where he was wanted on charges of several murders and might face the death penalty. The issue came before the court in the form of a reference from the federal government, which asked the court for an advisory opinion as to whether the extradition of a fugitive threatened with execution would violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

<i>Margarine Reference</i> Canadian constitutional decision

Reference Re Validity of Section 5(a) of the Dairy Industry Act (1949), also known as the Margarine Reference or as Canadian Federation of Agriculture v Quebec (AG), is a leading ruling of the Supreme Court of Canada, upheld on appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, on determining if a law is within the authority of the Parliament of Canada's powers relating to criminal law. In this particular case, the Court found that a regulation made by Parliament was ultra vires. Though the regulation contained sufficient punitive sanctions, the subject matter contained within it was not the kind that served a public purpose.

<i>Kindler v Canada (Minister of Justice)</i> Supreme Court of Canada case

Kindler v Canada (Minister of Justice) was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of Canada that held that the government policy that allowed for extradition of convicted criminals to a country in which they may face the death penalty was valid under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Court repeated that finding in Reference re Ng Extradition in 1991. However, Kindler was essentially overruled in 2001 with United States v. Burns.

<i>United States v Burns</i> Supreme Court of Canada case

United States v Burns [2001] 1 S.C.R. 283, 2001 SCC 7, was a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada that found that extradition of individuals to countries in which they may face the death penalty is a breach of fundamental justice under section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The decision reached that conclusion by a discussion of evidence regarding the arbitrary nature of execution although the Court did not go so far as to say that execution was also unconstitutional under section 12 of the Charter, which forbids cruel and unusual punishments.

In the United States, extradition law is a collection of federal laws that regulate extradition, the formal process by which a fugitive found in the United States is surrendered to another country or state for trial, punishment, or rehabilitation.

<i>Canada v Schmidt</i> Supreme Court of Canada case

Canada v Schmidt, [1987] 1 S.C.R. 500, is a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada on the applicability of fundamental justice under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms on extradition. While fundamental justice in Canada included a variety of legal protections, the Court found that in considering the punishments one might face when extradited to another country, only those that "shock the conscience" would breach fundamental justice.

<i>United States v Cotroni</i> Decision by the Supreme Court of Canada

United States v Cotroni [1989] 1 S.C.R. 1469 was a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada on extradition and freedom of movement under section 6 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Court found that extradition violates section 6 but is a justified infringement under section 1 of the Charter. The case was decided with United States v El Zein.

Ambiguity occurs when a single word or phrase may be interpreted in two or more ways. As law frequently involves lengthy, complex texts, ambiguity is common. Thus, courts have evolved various doctrines for dealing with cases in which legal texts are ambiguous.

Valentine v. United States, 299 U.S. 5 (1936), is known in the study of international criminal law for its contribution to the concept that while it is permissible for the United States to receive an accused without a treaty-based extradition, the United States itself will not extradite without authority found in statute or treaty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Section 121 of the Constitution Act, 1867</span> Provision of the Canadian Constitution

Section 121 of the Constitution Act, 1867 is a provision of the Constitution of Canada relating to the entry of goods from one province into another.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty Day (Nova Scotia)</span>

Treaty Day is celebrated by Nova Scotians annually on October 1 in recognition of the Treaties signed between the British Empire and the Mi'kmaq people. The first treaty was signed in 1725 after Father Rale's War. The final Halifax Treaties of 1760–61, marked the end of 75 years of regular warfare between the Mi'kmaq and the British. The treaty making process of 1760–61, ended with the Halifax Treaties (1760–61).

The rule against foreign revenue enforcement, often abbreviated to the revenue rule, is a general legal principle that the courts of one country will not enforce the tax laws of another country. The rule is part of the conflict of laws rules developed at common law, and forms part of the act of state doctrine.

References

  1. Quoted in United States v. Burns, [2001] 1 S.C.R. 283, paragraph 39.
  2. Canada v. Schmidt, [1987] 1 S.C.R. 500.
  3. United States of America v. Cotroni; United States of America v. El Zein, [1989] 1 S.C.R. 1469.