United States v Cotroni

The case involved Frank Santo Cotroni, a Canadian citizen who was accused of planning to sell heroin in the United States. He was arrested in Canada and plans were made to extradite him. Cotroni resisted the extradition on the grounds that it was in violation of section 6(1) of the Charter, which grants Canadian citizens the right to stay in Canada. He won his case in the Quebec Court of Appeal, who argued that it was possible to try Cotroni in Canada, where the crime was centred.

The second respondent in the case was Samir El Zein, also a Canadian citizen, who gave heroin to two people in Canada who were then caught trying to cross the border with it. El Zein was arrested and the United States requested his e extradition. El Zein also won his case in the Court of Appeal.

When the case reached the Supreme Court, the appellants argued that section 6(1) should be interpreted in the way it was meant, to guard against arbitrary exile and not extradition, which may not be a permanent removal and does not terminate Canadian citizenship. Hansard from 1981, just before the implementation of the Charter, was cited to reinforce that point. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court majority decision, written by Gerard La Forest, cited Re B.C. Motor Vehicle Act (1985) to say the framers' intent was not binding in Charter case law. Rights can be given generous and liberal interpretations, and the right considered in this case was deemed to be important enough that limits would have to be justified.

It was noted the wording of section 6(1) was vague and, if given a straightforward reading, could be interpreted to provide rights against extradition, not just arbitrary banishment. Indeed, the Canadian Bill of Rights (1960) had provided a right against exile, and the Charter did not use that limited wording. Nevertheless, while extradition would violate section 6(1), it would not violate the primary principles underlying the right. European case law, in particular, was cited to show extradition and exile are different. Past Canadian case law, like Re Federal Republic of Germany and Rauca and obiter dicta in Canada v. Schmidt (1987) also indicated extradition was a violation but still a justified limit on section 6.

The Court then turned to section 1 of the Charter, which provides for reasonable limits on rights. Cotroni declined to argue that extradition was unreasonable under section 1 since precedent had already determined that it was reasonable. However, Cotroni argued extradition would be unreasonable in this particular case. El Zein's legal representation argued Canadian citizens should be held in Canada and that their trials should occur there. To determine the application of section 1, the Court used the test as set out by R v Oakes (1986). Everyone agreed that fighting crime would be an important objective for limiting a Charter right. Moreover, international co-operation was needed to do so because of globalization, and the Court made reference to the global village, envisioned by Canadian thinker Marshall McLuhan. The question was then whether the infringement of the right was rational and as small as reasonably possible. The respondents claimed that it was not, since they were Canadian, had most of the crimes taken place in Canada, and could be tried in Canada. The Supreme Court acknowledged that Canada could justifiably try the respondents itself but the US was justified to try the respondents as well and would have absorbed most of the negative impact of the crime. Extradition was therefore rational since "It is often better that a crime be prosecuted where its harmful impact is felt and where the witnesses and the persons most interested in bringing the criminal to justice reside." Even if extradition may not be the smallest possible limit on the right, the government was allowed some flexibility and extradition simply did not strike at the primary values of section 6. That conclusion was reinforced by the fact that extradition has long been practiced in Canada, and Re Burley (1865) showed that criminals should receive "little leniency" in extradition cases.

• Full text of the decision