Canada (Attorney General) v. Adam, 2013 BCCA 207

• Judge: Hinkson, J.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (British Columbia)
• Case Date: April 09, 2013
• Jurisdiction: British Columbia
• Citations: 2013 BCCA 207;(2013), 337 B.C.A.C. 249 (CA)

Can. (A.G.) v. Adam (2013), 337 B.C.A.C. 249 (CA);

    576 W.A.C. 249

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2013] B.C.A.C. TBEd. MY.008

The Attorney General of Canada on behalf of The United States of America (respondent) v. Acram Adam (appellant)

Acram Adam (applicant) v. The Minister of Justice (respondent)

(CA040047; 2013 BCCA 207)

Indexed As: Canada (Attorney General) v. Adam

British Columbia Court of Appeal

Hinkson, J.A.

May 3, 2013.

Summary:

The Minister of Justice of Canada issued an Authority to Proceed authorizing the Attorney General of Canada to seek an order for the committal of the applicant to be prosecuted in the United States for his alleged conduct corresponding to the Canadian criminal offence of conspiracy to traffic in Methyllenedioxmethamphetamine. The applicant contended that the extradition proceedings should be judicially stayed, and in the alternative, opposed his committal for surrender.

The British Columbia Supreme Court, in a decision reported at [2012] B.C.T.C. Uned. 969, dismissed the applicant's applications and granted an order committing the applicant into custody for extradition to the requesting state. The Minister of Justice ordered the applicant's surrender to the requesting state. The applicant appealed from the committal decision and applied for judicial review of the surrender order. He now applied for the appointment of counsel for both his appeal and his application for judicial review pursuant to s. 684 of the Criminal Code. The applicant was born in the Sudan and came to Canada as a Convention refugee. He was a permanent resident of Canada but not a Canadian citizen. He had contended before the Supreme Court justice, as he did on this application, that because he was not a Canadian citizen, if he was committed for extradition to the requesting state, convicted of the charges, and sentenced to more than five years' imprisonment, he would lose his permanent resident status in Canada without recourse to the protections of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and in violation of Canada's international commitments. He contended that this would be an abuse of process and a violation of his rights under ss. 7 and 12 of the Charter.

The British Columbia Court of Appeal, per Hinkson, J.A., dismissed the application for the appointment of counsel for the applicant for his appeal and application for judicial review. None of the applicant's grounds of appeal had merit and he did not have an arguable case for judicial review of the surrender order. He therefore failed to show that the interests of justice warranted the appointment of counsel under the first part of the two-part test under s. 684 of the Code. An application brought by the applicant for judicial interim release was adjourned.

Criminal Law - Topic 4974

Appeals - Indictable offences - Powers of Court of Appeal - Power to appoint counsel for accused - See paragraphs 8 to 58.

Extradition - Topic 22

General - Bars to extradition - Abuse of process - See paragraphs 19 to 57.

Extradition - Topic 23

General - Bars to extradition - Charter breaches - See paragraphs 19 to 57.

Cases Noticed:

United States of America v. Beltran (2011), 286 O.A.C. 173; 2011 ONCA 775, refd to. [para. 10].

R. v. Bernardo (P.K.) (1997), 105 O.A.C. 244; 121 C.C.C.(3d) 123 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 13].

R. v. Butler (M.H.) (2006), 231 B.C.A.C. 303; 381 W.A.C. 303; 2006 BCCA 476, refd to. [para. 14].

New Brunswick (Board of Management) v. Dunsmuir, [2008] 1 S.C.R. 190; 372 N.R. 1; 329 N.B.R.(2d) 1; 844 A.P.R. 1; 2008 SCC 9, refd to. [para. 19].

R. v. Schiel (A.) (2012), 314 B.C.A.C. 236; 534 W.A.C. 236; 2012 BCCA 1, refd to. [para. 33].

Canada (Minister of Justice) v. Fischbacher, [2009] 3 S.C.R. 170; 394 N.R. 139; 255 O.A.C. 288; 2009 SCC 46, refd to. [para. 37].

Lake v. Canada (Minister of Justice), [2008] 1 S.C.R. 761; 373 N.R. 339; 236 O.A.C. 371; 2008 SCC 23, refd to. [para. 40].

United States of America et al. v. Singh (2009), 248 O.A.C. 391; 2009 ONCA 247, refd to. [para. 52].

Statutes Noticed:

Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, sect. 684(1) [para. 8].

Counsel:

Karen Bastow, for the appellant;

Diba B. Majzub, for the respondents.

This application was heard on April 9, 2013, at Vancouver, B.C., in chambers before Hinkson, J.A., of the British Columbia Court of Appeal, who delivered the following judgment on May 3, 2013.