R v Soon Gin an,

• Docket Number: Case No. 72
• Court: Court of Appeal (British Columbia)
• Date: 20 March 1941

Canada, British Columbia Court of Appeal.

Case No. 72

Rex

and

Soon Gin An.

Nationality — Proof of — Proof “Beyond Reasonable Doubt”— Deportation Proceedings — The Law of Canada.

The Facts.—This was an appeal from an order dismissing a habeas corpus application to discharge the applicant from custody under a deportation order issued by the Immigration Authorities. The applicant, who returned from China, maintained that he was a Canadian-born citizen. The Judge held that he was not satisfied “beyond reasonable doubt” that the applicant was entitled to re-enter Canada.

Held: that the appeal must be allowed. The Court said (per MacDonald, J.A.): “With due respect I think the learned Judge misdirected himself, as no such burden lay upon the applicant in this civil case. The burden of proving a case ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ arises only in criminal cases and for more than a century the words ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ have attained a significance in our jurisprudence applicable only to criminal cases. In civil cases the onus is satisfied by making out a case by a preponderance of evidence or, as it is sometimes put, on a balance of probabilities. This case must therefore be approached with these principles in view.

“The following facts are not in dispute: (1) A male child named Soon Gin An was born to his mother, Lin Ho, in Vancouver on April 16, 1914. (2) A birth certificate is produced, dated July 29, 1914, giving the names of the parents. (3)...