SUPREME COURT OF CANADA
Citation: Gavrila v. Canada (Justice), 2010 SCC 57, [2010] 3 S.C.R. 342
Date: 20101125
Docket: 33313
Between:
Tiberiu Gavrila
Appellant
and
Minister of Justice of Canada
Respondent
- and -
Amnesty International (Canada Section),
Québec Immigration Lawyers Association
and Canadian Civil Liberties Association
Interveners
Coram: McLachlin C.J. and Binnie, LeBel, Deschamps, Fish, Abella, Charron, Rothstein and Cromwell JJ.
Reasons for Judgment: (paras. 1 to 13)
Cromwell J. (McLachlin C.J. and Binnie, LeBel, Deschamps, Fish, Abella, Charron and Rothstein JJ. concurring)
Gavrila v. Canada (Justice), 2010 SCC 57, [2010] 3 S.C.R. 342
Tiberiu Gavrila Appellant
v.
Minister of Justice of Canada Respondent
and
Amnesty International (Canada Section),
Québec Immigration Lawyers Association
and Canadian Civil Liberties Association Interveners
Indexed as: Gavrila v. Canada (Justice)
2010 SCC 57
File No.: 33313.
2010: January 13; 2010: November 25.
Present: McLachlin C.J. and Binnie, LeBel, Deschamps, Fish, Abella, Charron, Rothstein and Cromwell JJ.
on appeal from the court of appeal for quebec
Extradition — Surrender — Convention refugees — Principle of “non-refoulement” — Minister of Justice ordered extradition of Convention refugee to Romania — Whether Minister of Justice had legal authority to surrender for extradition refugee whose refugee status had not ceased or been revoked — If so, whether Minister reasonably exercised his authority to surrender — Extradition Act, S.C. 1999, c. 18, s. 44 — Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c. 27, s. 115.
Extradition — Surrender — Evidence — Burden of proof — Convention refugees sought for extradition — Statutory grounds justifying Minister of Justice’s refusal to make surrender order — Whether s. 44(1)(b) of Extradition Act makes risk of persecution mandatory ground of refusal of surrender — Whether Minister of Justice erred by imposing on refugees the burden of showing that they would suffer persecution if extradited — Extradition Act, S.C. 1999, c. 18, s. 44(1)(b).
G came to Canada in 2004 and successfully made a claim for refugee protection, alleging that he had been persecuted in Romania because of his ethnic origin and activities in a Roma advocacy association. The Romanian authorities later requested that G be extradited to serve a prison sentence on a conviction for forging visas. G had allegedly been convicted in Romania for participating in the forging of visas for two people in exchange for US$1,800. In 2008, the Minister of Justice ordered that G be extradited to his country of origin to serve his prison sentence. The Court of Appeal dismissed the application for judicial review.
Held: The appeal should be allowed and the matter remitted to the Minister of Justice for reconsideration.
For the reasons given in Németh v. Canada (Justice), 2010 SCC 56, [2010] 3 S.C.R. 281, the Minister did not apply the correct legal principles given that at the time the