Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) v. Chang

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) v. Chang

The court held it lacked jurisdiction at the committal stage to admit evidence challenging the general political or judicial systems of the Requesting State; the extradition judge may only grant Charter or abuse of process remedies where the impugned conduct directly and specifically affects the fairness of the Canadian extradition hearing. The proposed expert evidence was irrelevant to the prima facie committal issues and therefore the application to admit it was dismissed.

Citation
2001 BCSC 1854
Parties
Requesting State: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China; Accused: Ping-On Chang
Court
Supreme Court of British Columbia
Jurisdiction
Canada
Judgment Date
31 October 2001
Procedural Posture
Extradition (extradition Act, R.s.c. 1999, C. 18) / Committal Hearing (judicial)
Outcome
Application dismissed
Legal Topics
Abuse of Process, Fairness of Extradition Hearing, Jurisdictional Division Between Minister and Courts, Admissibility of Foreign Political/judicial System Evidence, Charter S.7 Challenges
Source Language
English
Extradition Law Constitutional Law Administrative Law International Law Abuse of Process Fairness of Extradition Hearing Jurisdictional Division Between Minister and Courts Admissibility of Foreign Political/judicial System Evidence +1 more

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Parties

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China

Requesting State

Ping-On Chang

Accused

Procedural Posture

Extradition (extradition Act, R.s.c. 1999, C. 18) / Committal Hearing (judicial)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether an evidentiary basis is required to raise challenges to the requesting state's political or judicial independence at a committal hearing
  2. 2 Whether the court has jurisdiction at committal to hear evidence challenging the independence or fairness of the Requesting State's political or judicial institutions (here HKSAR/China)
  3. 3 Whether the court should create a record for the Minister by admitting evidence at committal though it properly belongs to the ministerial stage

Ratio Decidendi

The court held it lacked jurisdiction at the committal stage to admit evidence challenging the general political or judicial systems of the Requesting State; the extradition judge may only grant Charter or abuse of process remedies where the impugned conduct directly and specifically affects the fairness of the Canadian extradition hearing. The proposed expert evidence was irrelevant to the prima facie committal issues and therefore the application to admit it was dismissed.

Court Disposition

Application dismissed

Orders

  • Application to admit expert evidence dismissed