that the use of the death penalty in the United States generally, or in the State of California in particular, violates the Covenant". decision on surrender, the Minister considers a complete record of the case from the judicial phase, together with any written and oral submissions from the fugitive, and while the Minister's decision is discretionary, the discretion is circumscribed by law. The decision is based upon a consideration of many factors, including Canada's obligations under the applicable treaty of extradition, facts particular to the person and the nature of the crime for which extradition is sought. In addition, the Minister must consider the terms of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the various instruments, including the Covenant, which outline Canada's international human rights obligations. Finally, a fugitive may seek judicial review of the Minister's decision by a provincial court and appeal a warrant of surrender, with leave, up to the Supreme Court of Canada. In interpreting Canada's human rights obligations under the Canadian Charter, the Supreme Court of Canada is guided by international instruments to which Canada is a party, including the Covenant. 8.7 The State party also refers to article 4 of the United Nations Model Treaty on Extradition, which lists optional, but not mandatory, grounds for refusing extradition: "(d) If the offence for which extradition is requested carries the death penalty under the law of the Requesting State, unless the State gives such assurance as the Requested State considers sufficient that the death penalty will not be imposed or, if imposed, will not be carried out." Similarly, article 6 of the Extradition Treaty between Canada and the United States provides that the decision with respect to obtaining assurances regarding the death penalty is discretionary. 8.8 With regard to the link between extradition and the protection of society, the State party submits that Canada and the United States share a 4,800 kilometre unguarded border, that many fugitives from United States justice cross that border into Canada and that in the last 12 years there has been a steadily increasing number of extradition requests from the United States. In 1980, there were 29 such requests; by 1992, the number had increased to 88. 8.5 With regard to surrender in capital cases, the Minister of Justice decides whether or not to request assurances to the effect that the death penalty should not be imposed or carried out on the basis of an examination of the particular facts of each case. The Extradition Treaty between Canada and the United States was not intended to make the seeking of assurances a routine occurrence; rather, assurances had to be sought only in circumstances where the particular facts of the case warrant a special exercise of discretion. "Requests involving death penalty cases are a new and growing problem for Canada ... a policy of routinely seeking assurances under article 6 of the Canada-United States Extradition Treaty will encourage even more criminal law offenders, especially those guilty of the most serious crimes, to flee the United States for Canada. Canada does not wish to become a haven for the most wanted and dangerous criminals from the United States. If the Covenant fetters Canada's discretion not to seek assurances, increasing numbers of criminals may come to Canada for the purpose of securing immunity from capital punishment." 8.6 With regard to the abolition of the death penalty in Canada, the State party notes that: "... certain States within the international community, including the United States, continue to impose the death penalty. The Government of Canada does not use extradition as a vehicle for imposing its concepts of criminal law policy on other States. By seeking assurances on a routine basis, in the absence of exceptional circumstances, Canada would be dictating to the requesting State, in this case the United States, how it should punish its criminal law offenders. The Government of Canada contends that this would be an unwarranted interference with the internal affairs of another State. The Government of Canada reserves the right ... to refuse to extradite without assurances. This right is held in reserve for use only where exceptional circumstances exist. In the view of the Government of Canada, it may be that evidence showing that a fugitive would face certain or foreseeable violations of the Covenant would be one example of exceptional circumstances which would warrant the special measure of seeking assurances under article 6. However, the evidence presented by Ng during the extradition process in Canada (which evidence has been submitted by counsel for Ng in this communication) does not support the allegations 9.1 With regard to Mr. Ng's case, the State party recalls that he challenged the warrant of committal to await surrender in accordance with the extradition process outlined above, and that his counsel made written and oral submissions to the Minister to seek assurances that the death penalty would not be imposed. He argued that extradition to face the death penalty would offend his rights under section 7 (comparable to articles 6 and 9 of the Covenant) and section 12 (comparable to article 7 of the Covenant) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Supreme Court heard Mr. Ng's case at the same time as the appeal by Mr. Kindler, an American citizen who also faced extradition to the United States on a capital charge,10 and decided that their 10 Ibid., Forty-eighth Session, Supplement No. 40 (A/48/40), annex XII.U, communication No. 470/1991 (Kindler v. Canada), Views adopted on 30 July 1993. 98