the Committee as those put forward in support of his application for mercy, namely, that Ms. Gascon’s statement should have been disclosed to him during the trial. The State party maintains that the approach to follow in the present case should be based on the Stinchcombe decision, in which the Supreme Court of Canada stated that in the event of a failure to disclose information, it had to be ascertained whether disclosing the information might have affected the outcome of the proceedings. In this connection, the State party also mentions the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and Canada. State party’s submission on admissibility and merits 4.1 In its submissions of 21 June 2002, the State party’s principal assertion is that the communication is inadmissible. Firstly, it maintains that domestic remedies have not been exhausted with regard to the complaint of a violation of article 14, paragraph 3 (b). According to the State party, a decision under section 690 of the Criminal Code may be the subject of an application for judicial review before the Federal Court of Canada under article 18.1 of the Federal Courts Act. The Court may therefore strike down a decision and return the case to the judge for a new decision. The State party specifies that the Federal Court had in fact had to handle an application for judicial review following a refusal for a new trial in the case of an applicant who alleged that a document - the victim’s medical report in this case - had not been made available to the accused before or during the trial. The Court refused to intervene, however, on the grounds that it had been established that the accused had known of the document’s existence even before the trial started. The Federal Courts Act provides for a period of 30 days to submit an application for judicial review. The Court may, on request, extend this period. The decision of the Trial Division of the Federal Court may be appealed against before the Federal Court of Appeal. The latter decision may also be appealed against before the Supreme Court of Canada subject to the latter’s granting of leave to appeal. The State party considers that the author of the present communication cannot be excused for not having exhausted domestic remedies because he did not observe the prescribed deadlines. 4.3 The State party explains that the disclosure of the victim’s statement to the author would not have influenced the result of the trial and that he did receive a fair trial. The State party specifies that a criminal conviction in Canada for threatening to kill or inflict serious injury is based on evidence beyond reasonable doubt brought by the deputy Crown prosecutor that threats were made (actus reus) and that the accused made these threats intentionally (mens rea). The State party recalls that the author was well aware of the facts that gave rise to the charges against him at his trial on 24 April 1992 since on 19 December 1991 Ms. Gascon had testified and had been cross-examined on them during the preliminary investigation. The author had moreover admitted that he had made the two telephone calls to Ms. Gascon in which threats were allegedly made and that the words he had used might have been interpreted by Ms. Gascon as threats. 4.4 Although he denied making threats, the author admitted that he said the following during his telephone conversation with Ms. Gascon on 12 August 1991: 4.2 Secondly, the State party maintains that there was no prima facie violation of article 14 of the Covenant. It considers that the author is actually requesting the Committee to re-evaluate the Canadian courts’ findings of fact and credibility. The State party recalls the Committee’s jurisprudence according to which it is not for the Committee to question the assessment of the evidence by the domestic courts unless this assessment amounted to a denial of justice. According to the State party, the author has not established that justice was denied in the case in question, since his conviction is based on his testimony and the Court’s assessment of it. The Court of Appeal of Quebec rejected the appeal against the conviction and the Supreme Court of Canada refused the application for leave to appeal against this decision. The State party stresses in this instance the importance of the doctrine of res judicata. The author furthermore took advantage of the application for mercy under section 690 of the Criminal Code after exhausting the rights of appeal and alleged that the trial was not fair, particularly in respect of article 14, paragraph 3 (b). According to the State party, the author cites the same grounds to “That’s why I called her again on the 12th, I mean, it was to tell her she had been violent when she was in the car with me. I mentioned her screams and her attitude. Then I said … I told her that there could be a fatal accident if it happened again, that sort of situation. … Perhaps she interpreted what I said as death threats, it’s quite possible, I don’t know. … Question by the Court: So you’re telling us that what you said to her was that if ever she did that again, you might lose patience, you might grab the brake … Reply: Right. Question: … and that that could be fatal? Reply: Yes, it could cause an accident. Question: For whom? For whom? Reply: Well, both of us or … well, if there’s a car accident, you don’t know what might happen; I could die in the accident, or perhaps both of us …” (Annex B, transcript of the proceedings, testimony of Mr. Dupuy, pp. 34 and 35). 4.5 According to the State party, the Court considered that these words, indicating an intention to take action while Ms. Gascon was driving, constituted a threat and that he had said them 17