''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 Extradition is an action wherein 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 jurisdi ...

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 ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part ...

. The Court repeated that finding in '' Reference re Ng Extradition'' in 1991. However, ''Kindler'' was essentially overruled in 2001 with '' United States v. Burns''. After being convicted of murder in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, Joseph Kindler escaped and fled to Canada. He was captured, escaped again, and was captured again. Kindler then fought his extradition. In a four-to-three decision the Court found that there was no violation of section 7 of the Charter (the right to life,

liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

and

security of person Security of the person is a basic entitlement guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948. It is also a human right explicitly defined and guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights, th ...

) or section 12 of the Charter (protection against cruel and unusual punishment). The case cited an earlier extradition decision, '' Canada v. Schmidt'' (1987), which stated that extradition may be unconstitutional under section 7 if it "

shocks the conscience Shocks the conscience is a phrase used as a legal standard in the United States and Canada. An action is understood to "shock the conscience" if it is "grossly unjust to the observer." United States In US law, the phrase typically describes whether ...

." In ''Kindler'', the Court noted that while

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

itself had abolished the death penalty, Canada should respect that most other countries had not. That included the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, with which Canada shared cultural connections and an easily-crossed border. Thus, extradition with the possibility of execution should not shock the conscience. Kindler was ultimately returned to the United States. On December 8, 2009, the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

ruled in '' Beard v. Kindler'' that Kindler's flight from the United States constituted an abandonment of his right to appeal.''Beard v. Kindler'', United States Supreme Court No. 08-992 (available a

.

References

External links

* Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms case law Canadian immigration and refugee case law Supreme Court of Canada cases Capital punishment in the United States Death penalty case law Capital punishment in Canada Canadian extradition case law 1991 in Canadian case law 1991 in international relations {{canada-law-stub