Prasanna Balasundaram

The appellant appealed his convictions for two counts of assault, arguing that the trial was unfair due to numerous judicial interventions, that the trial judge failed to provide adequate reasons, and that the trial judge subjected his evidence to a greater degree of scrutiny than that of the complainant.

The court dismissed the appeal, finding that the trial judge's interventions were necessary for clarity and did not indicate bias, that the reasons were sufficiently detailed for appellate review, and that there was no evidence of uneven scrutiny of the appellant's and complainant's evidence.

The applicant, wanted in the United States for murder, sought a disclosure order against the Attorney General of Canada for information regarding the United States' involvement in his prior prosecution and conviction for the same murder in Jordan.

The applicant hoped to use this information to argue double jeopardy, abuse of process, and a violation of s. 7 of the Charter.

The court dismissed the application, holding that it was premature and that the extradition judge lacked jurisdiction to order disclosure from foreign authorities.

The court noted that double jeopardy issues and related disclosure requests are properly within the purview of the Minister of Justice during the surrender phase of the extradition process.