Minister of Justice v. Burns
Canada Supreme Court
[2001] 1 S.C.R. 283, 2001 SCC 7 (2001)
- Written by Robert Cane, JD
Facts
Atif Rafay and Glen Burns (defendants) were suspected of murdering Rafay’s family at their home in Bellevue, Washington. Rafay and Burns fled to Canada. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) conducted an undercover operation that resulted in an admission by Rafay and Burns that Burns had committed the murders at the behest and in the presence of Rafay. The RCMP arrested Rafay and Burns. The minister of justice signed an extradition order for the two men to be extradited to Washington State for trial pursuant to the United States and Canada’s extradition treaty. The treaty provided that Canada could refuse extradition if it was not given assurances that extradited fugitives would not suffer the death penalty. The minister of justice did not seek such assurances in this case. Rafay and Burns argued that the minister was required to seek assurances that the death penalty would not be imposed. The British Columbia Court of Appeal held that the minister must seek assurances against the death penalty. The Canada Supreme Court granted review.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning ()
What to do next…
Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
