Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights

Comité permanent de la justice et des droits de la personne

For immediate release

Ottawa, June 07, 2023 -

Today, the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights presented a unanimous report to the House of Commons entitled Reforming Canada’s Extradition System.

In recent years, stakeholders have called for extradition system reform, underlining the flaws of the current system, and denouncing the injustices in certain cases. In October 2021, a report of an independent group comprising academics, defence lawyers and human rights organizations was released, outlining proposals for extradition law reform following the Halifax Colloquium, hosted by Dalhousie University. The committee felt compelled to undertake a comprehensive study on reforming Canada’s extradition system, notably by reviewing existing provisions of the 1999 Extradition Act.

The committee’s report is based on testimony and evidence received from different Canadian extradition law experts and stakeholders. The committee also heard testimony and views on the extradition system in other jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, leading to a number of recommendations.

Among other things, the committee recommends to review all extradition treaties to which Canada is a party, to integrate protections when there is a potential risk of torture following extradition, to add new requirements during the judicial phase of the extradition process, to update the Extradition Act’s language to take into account gender identity and gender expression, and to enshrine an obligation to publish data, statistics and governmental internal policies, as well as a reporting obligation.

“Today, I tabled a unanimous report in the House of Commons on the extradition system reform, resulting from constructive discussion and cooperation with all members of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Calls for extradition law reform have been made and it was important to hear from the stakeholders on why this reform was needed” stated the Chair of the committee, M.P. Randeep Sarai.

Vice-Chair Rhéal Éloi Fortin, M.P. said: “I am proud of the work accomplished by the Bloc Québécois team as part of our work on extradition. We proposed, among other things, that the Department of Justice publish on its website, within six months of the end of each fiscal year, all data, statistics and internal policies for that period, with the exception of confidential information, in order to ensure that the extradition process is transparent and to better inform the public.

In the Bloc Québécois, we believe that transparency and accountability are essential in democracy and essential for optimizing extradition process.”

Finally, Randall Garrison, M.P., member of the committee and the New Democratic Party Spokesperson for Justice highlighted: “New Democrats want to thank all the expert witnesses for their input on this study on extradition law reform. We hope this report will be a first step toward improving Canada’s extradition laws and hope to see these reforms soon to avoid further injustices.”

A copy of the report may be obtained from the committee’s website.