Law Times

Law Times • augusT 20, 2018 Page 5 www.lawtimesnews.com Rare for request for extradition to be refused Roma man allowed to stay in Canada, says federal AG BY GABRIELLE GIRODAY Law Times A n Ontario lawyer has successfully persuaded the federal minister of Justice not to extradite a 49-year-old man wanted in Romania. Stephen Whitzman, a law- yer with Daley Byers Barristers in Toronto, says he convinced federal Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould to refuse to order the surrender of his client, Marius Coman, to the south- eastern European country. According to a submis- sion made to the minister by Whitzman, Coman was wanted in Romania due to allegations that in late 2000 and early 2001 he had participated in a fraud while he was the administrator of three limited-liability trading companies. Whitzman says he argued that Coman — who is now a permanent resident of Canada and who works as a welder in Kitchener, Ont. — should not be returned to Romania over his Roma ethnicity. Whitzman says his argu- ment was that Coman was in need of protection due to his ethnic background, and that he used supporting documentation from a professor at Concordia University, Lucian Turcescu, and a human rights report by the U.S. Department of State to show that discrimination against the Roma exists. "Romania has a bad human rights record with respect to Roma people; a very bad human rights record," says Whitzman. Coman entered Canada in 2002, said Whitzman's submis- sion to the minister, and claimed refugee status. However, the submission said his application was dismissed by the refugee protection divi- sion of the immigration appeal board, and leave for appeal was also denied. Whitzman said in a recent submission to the federal minis- ter of Justice that the Romanian record of the criminal case in- volving Coman was incomplete, and that the action against Co- man didn't start until 2004, after he'd moved to Canada, with an indictment following in 2006 and a sentence of 10 years im- prisonment imposed in 2007. Whitzman's submission to the federal government said that, after his client came to Canada, he was not aware he was facing charges in Romania or wanted by the police. Coman was not arrested until 2017, said the submission. Whitzman says he used case law established in Németh v. Canada (Justice), 2010 SCC 56, [2010] 3 to argue that Co- man should be allowed to stay in the country. Whitzman said a pre-remov- al risk assessment prepared in relation to Coman's case and is- sued in 2010 found that under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, Coman was "a person in need of protection" and "a person whose removal to his country of nationality would subject him personally to a risk to his life or to a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punish- ment." "Subsection 115(1) of the IRPA provides that a protected person shall not be removed from Canada to a country where he would be at risk of persecu- tion for reasons of, inter alia, membership in a particular so- cial group or at risk of torture or cruel and unusual treatment or punishment. This is the prin- ciple of non-refoulement," it added. Whitzman also said in his submission that his client, who has remarried and had a child in Canada, had to experience an "unconscionably" lengthy delay in the matter. Whitzman says the case shows lawyers they can achieve success in extradition matters. "What is interesting and im- portant is that it's so hard to win an extradition case," he says. "It's very rare for a request [for extradition] to be refused . . . It's good for the profession to know it's very rare, but it's not hope- less, depending on the facts, and if you dig deep enough, you may be able to win." A spokeswoman for the fed- eral minister of Justice said sur- rendering Coman to Romania "would not comply with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms." Lorne Waldman, a lawyer with Waldman & Associates and past president of the Ca- nadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, says the case shows "the intersection between refugee law and extradition law" and that he was pleased to see the minister refuse to extradite Coman. "The Supreme Court of Can- ada in Nemeth made it clear that findings by immigration offi- cials that a person was at risk of persecution must be given sig- nificant weight in any decision in relation to extradition. The fact that the minister of Justice refused to extradite is a clear indication that she was aware of the findings of the immigration officials as to the risk faced and took them into account," he says. "Canada must be careful when deciding whether to ex- tradite persons to regimes where there is an absence of due pro- cess or where there is compel- ling evidence of persecution or discrimination in relation to specific groups." Barbara Jackman, an immi- gration lawyer, says she supports the decision. "[I]t is a good decision and an unusual one. Usually, the min- ister of Justice either discounts the harm the person would face or trusts the government seek- ing extradition to comply with international standards of fair treatment," she says. "So, actual recognition of the reality that he would be at risk of harm in Romania because he is Roma is a big step forward in hu- man rights protection." 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Learn more about ProView eBooks at store.thomsonreuters.com/ProView * Thomson Reuters ProView options not applicable to bookstores, academic institutions, and students. 82 Scollard Street, Toronto, Canada, M5R 1G2 Excellence in Employment & Labour Law • Counsel in Leading Cases • • Author of Leading Treatise • Wrongful Dismissal Employment Law Human Rights Post Employment Competition Civil Litigation Appellate Advocacy Disability Ball Professional Corporation Referrals on behalf of employees and employers respected Contact Stacey Ball at web: www.staceyball.com (416) 921-7997 ext. 225 or srball@82scollard.com all_LT_Nov7_11.indd 1 11-11-08 11:44 AM Stephen Whitzman says he's pleased his client, who is a Roma man living in Canada, will not be extradited to Romania.

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