assurances that the death penalty would not be applied, would be found to have placed the individual at a real risk of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In the State party’s view, this amounts to an untenable interpretation of article 7. For these reasons, the State party asserts that it is not in violation of article 7 for having removed Roger Judge to the United States without seeking assurances. requirement under article 6 would represent a significant departure from accepted rules of treaty interpretation. In the State party’s view, articles 6, paragraph 4, and 14, paragraph 5, provide important safeguards for the State party seeking to impose the death penalty28 but do not apply to a State Party that removes or extradites an individual to a State where they have been sentenced to death. 8.15 The State party explains that Section 48 of the Immigration Act29 stipulates that a removal order must be executed as soon as reasonably practicable subject to statutory or judicial stays. That is, where there are no stays on its execution, a removal order is a mandatory one which the Minister is legally bound to execute as soon as reasonably practicable, having little discretion in this regard. In the present case, the State party submits that, none of the statutory stays available under sections 49 and 50 of the Immigration Act applied to the author, and his requests for a judicial stay were dismissed by the reviewing courts. 8.12 The State party submits that article 2, paragraph 3, of the Covenant requires States parties to ensure that any person whose rights or freedoms have been violated under the Covenant, have an effective remedy, that claims of rights violations can be heard before competent authorities and that any remedies be enforced. The State party relies on its submissions on articles 6 and 7 and asserts in light of those arguments, that it did not violate the author’s rights or freedoms under the Covenant. Canada’s obligations under article 2, paragraphs 3 (a) and (c), thus do not arise in this case. 8.16 The State party argues that the application for leave to commence an application for judicial review of the Minister’s response that he was unable to defer removal including a lengthy memorandum of argument was considered by the Federal Court and denied. Similarly, the Superior Court of Québec considered the author’s petition for the same relief dismissing it for both procedural and substantive reasons. Neither court found sufficient reason to stay removal. If the State party were to grant stays on removal orders until all levels of appeal could be exhausted, it argues that this would mean that individuals, such as the author, who committed serious crimes, would remain in Canada for significantly longer periods, which would result in lengthy delays on removals with no guarantee that serious criminals, such as the author, could be held in detention throughout the appeal process.30 8.13 Furthermore, the State party submits that individuals who claim violations of their rights and freedoms, can have such claims determined by competent judicial authorities and if such claims are substantiated, be provided an effective remedy. More particularly, it argues, that the issue of whether it was required to seek assurances that the death penalty not be applied to the author could have been raised before domestic courts.26 2. Did the removal of the author to a state in which he was under sentence of death before he could exercise all his rights to challenge that removal violate the author’s rights under articles 6, 7 and 2 of the Covenant 8.14 The State party relies, mutatis mutandis, on its previous submissions with respect to the first question posed by the Committee. In particular, its argument that article 6 and the Committee’s relevant General Comment27 are silent on the issue of whether a state is required to allow an individual to exercise all rights of appeal prior to removing them to a state where they have been sentenced to death. No legal authority has been found for this proposition and finding such a 28 In the instant case, the Committee found that the author’s claim of a violation of a right to an appeal under Article 14, paragraph 5, of the Covenant was not substantiated for the purposes of the admissibility of the communication (at para. 7.7). 29 This provision has been repealed and replaced by a similar provision in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. 26 The State party refers to Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s. 24 (1) which, in a similar manner to the Covenant, protects individuals’ right to “life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice” (s. 7) and the right “not to be subjected to any cruel and unusual treatment or punishment” (s.12). Anyone who claims that his or her rights or freedoms have been infringed may apply to a competent court to obtain such remedy as the court considers just and appropriate in the circumstances. 27 30 The State party further explains that under the former Immigration Act and the new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Minister could argue in favour of detention during the appeal process based on the grounds that the person was likely to pose a danger to the public, or unlikely to appear for removal. The reasons for detention would be reviewed by an independent decisionmaker. The Minister however, would not be able to guarantee the continued detention of the person and the longer the period of detention, the more likely that the individual would be released into the public. Supra. 94