Defence urges judge not be a 'rubber stamp' in Meng Wanzhou extradition case
Huawei executive's lawyers claim Crown hasn't proven any link between Meng and alleged loss to bank
Jason Proctor · CBC News · Posted: Aug 13, 2021 4:24 PM PT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago
A lawyer for Meng Wanzhou says the B.C. Supreme Court judge considering a U.S. request to render the Huawei executive to New York to face fraud charges shouldn't act as a "rubber stamp" for extradition.
Eric Gottardi cited the words of former Supreme Court of Canada chief justice Beverley McLachlin Friday as he laid out the defence's arguments during the final leg of Meng's extradition proceedings.
In
a 2006 decision, McLachlin wrote that an extradition "judge must act as a judge, not a rubber stamp" when considering the facts and law in cases like Meng's.
Gottardi told B.C. Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes that while an extradition hearing is not a trial, she does have the right to perform a "limited weighing" of the evidence before her — which he claimed was "manifestly unreliable."
"The extradition judge must have this power as a matter of fundamental justice," he said.
"Otherwise the extradition risks becoming the rubber stamp the chief justice warned us about and it would undermine the basic demands of justice."
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