Justice committee  Yes, that would be the heart of my comment as well. Human rights questions, to my mind, are not political questions. They're legal questions, because rights are legally cognizable under law. They are meant to be affirmed, recognized and protected under Canadian law and under international law.

Justice committee  Thank you for the question. We do deal with that in the report. There are some cases in which that's an option, where Canada could prosecute but also the foreign state could prosecute. It's not an option in every case simply by way of the international law of jurisdiction and the way Canada conducts criminal prosecutions, but there are some cases—and I'll specifically mention those dealing with Canadian citizens—where, if there's a cross-border aspect to the case, it may be that Canada has the option of prosecuting as well as the foreign state.

Justice committee  Okay. I think I understand your question a little better. In principle, extradition is an important tool and a necessary tool in order for Canada to meet its international obligations and in order to ensure that people who break the law face justice. There may be more situations in which it's appropriate to hold trials in Canada than is currently the case, but there are always going to be lots of cases where it's appropriate to extradite the individual as well.

Justice committee  I'm sorry, Ms. Diab, but are you directing that question to me?

Justice committee  Thank you. Professor Harrington covered a couple of the answers to your question in her remarks. I wouldn't presume to tell Parliament how to do its job, but there are mechanisms that are already used. I think of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, which oversees the Canadian intelligence apparatus and is the receiver of annual reports on the kinds of activities engaged in by the particular departments and particular government entities.

Justice committee  I'll toss one in. I'll simply say that I think one ground for refusal should be extreme disparity of sentencing between Canadian criminal law and the foreign state's criminal law. That has been a problem in numerous cases since the new act was brought in. I'll leave it there and see if my colleagues have other proposals.

Justice committee  They were not. This was.... I guess you'd call it a gathering of like-minded people who had previously expressed an interest in extradition reform. I don't think it was a secret. It was publicly known about meeting, but there were no attendees of the Crown.

Justice committee  Not prior to its publication, no.

Justice committee  We sent a copy of the report to the Prime Minister, and that report was copied to a number of ministers, certainly the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Justice. I can't bring the rest to mind, but there were several. A number of us had conversations with interested parties, certainly with politicians, I think, federally and provincially.

Justice committee  Advance them...? In what sense, sir?

Justice committee  No. Certainly, the Minister of Justice was aware, and it was really an awareness-raising exercise. Any conversations that we had, to the best of my recollection, were along the lines of “Here is a proposal. We think law reform is called for.” The response was always, thank you very much.

Justice committee  I think changes to the committal process are the number one priority. That is really where Dr. Diab's case rests in terms of the demonstrable problems. I'd highlight that as part number one. There are a number of changes that could be made. Certainly, any exculpatory evidence in the hands of either the Canadian Crown or the foreign state should be disclosed to the defence.

Justice committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I hope that I will have been worth waiting for. I am honoured to be invited to address this committee and of course would be very pleased to answer any questions that members have after my opening remarks. From the beginning, concerns were raised about the legal processes that were put in place under the Extradition Act, and specifically about the fairness of those procedures.

Justice committee  Would it be okay if I ceded my spot to Mr. Neve? I think it would be better if he set things up.