In December, the Hon

In December, the Hon. Jerahmiel S. Grafstein introduced Bill C-4 that resurrects the same amendments he moved to the Extradition Act (Bill C-40), supported by Senator Serge Joyal, to remove the Minister of Justice's discretion when it came to requests for extradition by States where the accused would be subject to the death penalty. After a full debate, those amendments were defeated in the Senate. During the debate on December 14, Grafstein pointed out the invidious position of the Justice Minister deciding a question of life or death when Canada's law was clear - no capital punishment. This is related to the case of Burns and Rafay before the Supreme Court of Canada. Also the Hon. Serge Joyal criticized the fact that there is no safeguard against the death penalty for persons extradited from Canada. "Leaving the discretion over life and death of any person in Canada to a Minister of the Crown is fundamentally wrong and contrary to the provision of Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms," he said.