Kindler v. Canada (Minister of Justice)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kindler v. Canada (Minister of Justice), [1991] 2 S.C.R. 779 1991 SCC 70 was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of Canada where it was held that the government policy that allowed for extradition of convicted criminals to a country where they may face the death penalty was valid under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In a 7 to 2 decision the Court found that there was no violation of section 7 of the Charter (the right to life, liberty and security of person) or section 12 of the Charter (protection against cruel and unusual punishment). The case cited an earlier extradition decision, Canada v. Schmidt (1987), which states extradition may be unconstitutional under section 7 if it "shocks the conscience." In Kindler, the Court noted that while Canada itself had abolished the death penalty, Canada should respect that most other countries had not. These included the United States, with which Canada shared cultural connections and an easily-crossed border. Thus, extradition with the possibility of execution should not shock the conscience.

The Court repeated this finding in Reference re Ng Extradition (1991). However, Kindler was essentially overruled in 2001 with United States v. Burns.