United States of America v. Catano
The court upheld the Minister's decision because the Minister considered the new medical evidence, found the prior assurances from U.S. authorities sufficiently persuasive to allay concerns, and exercised his discretion reasonably; therefore there was no basis to set aside the decision and deference was warranted.
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- 2007 ONCA 838
- Parties
- Applicant: Luis Catano; Respondent: The Attorney General of Canada on behalf of the United States of America
- Court
- Court of Appeal for Ontario
- Jurisdiction
- Canada
- Judgment Date
- 4 December 2007
- Procedural Posture
- Criminal / Application for Judicial Review of Minister of Justice Decision Denying Request for Refusal to Surrender
- Outcome
- Application dismissed; Minister's decision upheld
- Legal Topics
- Surrender, Refusal to Surrender, Medical Care in Custody, Shock the Conscience, Ministerial Discretion, Standard of Review
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
Luis Catano
Applicant
The Attorney General of Canada on behalf of the United States of America
Respondent
Procedural Posture
Criminal / Application for Judicial Review of Minister of Justice Decision Denying Request for Refusal to Surrender
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether surrender would 'shock the conscience' because of risk of blindness from inadequate medical care in U.S. custody
- 2 Whether the Minister reasonably considered new medical evidence and properly exercised discretion in light of assurances from U.S. authorities
- 3 What degree of deference is owed to the Minister's decision
Ratio Decidendi
The court upheld the Minister's decision because the Minister considered the new medical evidence, found the prior assurances from U.S. authorities sufficiently persuasive to allay concerns, and exercised his discretion reasonably; therefore there was no basis to set aside the decision and deference was warranted.
Court Disposition
Application dismissed; Minister's decision upheld
Orders
- Application for judicial review dismissed; Minister of Justice's decision dated September 28, 2006 denying refusal to surrender is upheld
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
1 paragraphs
United States of America v. Catano Collection Decisions of the Court of Appeal Date 2007-12-04 Neutral citation 2007 ONCA 838 Docket numbers C46128 Judges Doherty, David H.; Feldman, Kathryn N.; Armstrong, Robert Patrick Subject Criminal Decision Content CITATION: United States of America v. Catano, 2007 ONCA 838 DATE: 20071204 DOCKET: C46128 COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO DOHERTY, FELDMAN and ARMSTRONG JJ.A. BETWEEN: THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA ON BEHALF OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Respondent and LUIS CATANO Applicant Sonya Shikhman for the applicant Heather Graham and Nancy Dennison for the respondent Heard and released orally: November 16, 2007 Application for a judicial review of the Minister of Justice’s decision dated September 28, 2006, denying request for refusal to surrender. ENDORSEMENT [1] The appellant asks this court to find that the Minister’s decision to surrender the appellant would shock the conscience of Canadians. Crown counsel concedes that if it was clear that the appellant would not obtain adequate care for his serious eye condition in a Florida jail and he would therefore become blind, that would satisfy the test. [2] Counsel submits that the Minister has fully considered the new evidence provided by the appellant. In the face of the U.S. authorities’ previous assurances, he did not consider the new evidence sufficient to demonstrate that the appellant’s eye condition cannot be properly managed and treated in Florida. [3] From his letter of reconsideration, the Minister took into account all the new evidence presented by the appellant and, in his discretion, concluded that the answers he had originally received were sufficiently persuasive to overcome the concerns raised by the appellant. The Minister’s decision is entitled to considerable deference. Although Mr. Catano’s case is very sympathetic, we see no basis to set aside the decision of the Minister. Signed: “Doherty J.A.” “K. Feldman J.A.” “Robert P. Armstrong J.A.”