Extradition
Extradition is the formal legal process by which Canada surrenders a person located in Canadian territory to another country to stand trial or serve a sentence for criminal conduct in that country. The process is governed by the Extradition Act and the bilateral extradition treaties Canada has with many countries — most importantly, the United States. Extradition cases are technical, high-stakes, and proceed under their own specialized regime in the Superior Court.
Second, the Minister of Justice decides whether to surrender the person. The Minister can refuse surrender on enumerated grounds — including risk of persecution, threat to the person's life or fundamental rights, or unjust or oppressive consequences. The decision is reviewable in the appellate courts on administrative-law grounds.
Mass Tsang's criminal lawyers handle extradition matters where they intersect with parallel Canadian charges or where international issues arise in GTA cases.
The two-step framework
Canadian extradition proceeds in two main stages. First, an extradition hearing in the Superior Court of Justice determines whether the requesting state has established that the person is the one sought and that the alleged conduct, if committed in Canada, would amount to a crime carrying at least the threshold sentence (often two years). The hearing applies a committal-style standard, not a full trial.
Double criminality
Extradition requires "double criminality" — the alleged conduct must constitute an offence both in the requesting state and in Canada. The test is conduct-based, not technical. The court asks whether the alleged conduct, if committed in Canada, would amount to a Canadian offence with the required minimum penalty. Technical differences in the labelling of offences between jurisdictions do not defeat extradition.
Charter and rights protection
Extradition engages section 6 of the Charter (mobility rights) and section 7 (fundamental justice). Canadian courts have rejected extradition where surrender would expose the person to the death penalty, to torture, or to a trial process so deficient it would shock the Canadian conscience. The Minister must consider these issues. Charter applications are common in extradition cases.
Strategy
Extradition defence focuses on: contesting the sufficiency of the record of the case (the documentary evidence supplied by the requesting state); raising double criminality challenges; raising Charter and ministerial-discretion challenges; and, where possible, negotiating with the requesting state on sentence assurances. Extradition cases can take years from initial arrest to final surrender.
Related glossary terms
