Reference Re Ng Extradition

Charles Chi-Tat Ng was wanted by the State of California on multiple counts of murder, kidnapping, and burglary, for which he potentially faced the death penalty. After his accomplice Leonard Lake confessed to their crimes—and committed suicide—Ng fled to Canada. On July 6, 1985, in Calgary, Alberta, he was caught shoplifting. While resisting arrest, he shot a security guard in the hand. The United States petitioned the government to have Ng extradited. Ng submitted a habeas corpus request, which was denied, followed by an application to the Alberta Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada, all of which were denied. In response to requests to gain an assurance from the United States government not to seek the death penalty, the Minister of Justice submitted the following questions to the Supreme Court: == Ruling ==

The Court answered both questions in the negative. There were two majority opinions in the case, written by Gérard La Forest and Beverley McLachlin, with Claire L'Heureux-Dubé and Charles Gonthier concurring with both. Both majority opinions referred to Kindler v. Canada (1991), where the Court considered the same question and found that there was no Charter violation. Antonio Lamer, John Sopinka, and Peter Cory dissented on both questions. Cory concluded that without any assurance from the United States against imposing the death sentence, there would be a clear violation of s.12 of the Charter, which could not be saved under s.1. Sopinka's opinion referred to s.7 of the Charter but reached the same conclusion as Cory. ==See also==