Last February, Lai Changxing appealed for legal reconsideration of his case in Canada and was turned down by the Canadian Federal Court. But how's the progress of the case of Lai Changxing at present? At which phase does the judicial procedure so far stand? Accepting the interview of the reporter is Yang Cheng, senior researcher of Canada penal code reform and international criminal law center who took part in the 17th international conference on criminal laws. Last February, the Canadian government specially invited Yang Cheng over, serving as a specialist witness from the government to air his opinions on the case of Lai Changxing.

Judicial procedure drags on and on

The lawsuit case of Lai Changxing is actually a case between Lai Changxing and the Canadian government, said Yang Cheng, and so it's possible to be sentenced next year. Due to that the case is still in suspension and to prevent him from running away Lai Changxing is now put in a state of half-liberty, he said, every day he has a few hours free for activities. This will last presumably up to the time when the Federal Court has the case ruled.

Yang told the reporter, as the Federal Court has already accepted the appeal of Lai Changxing, so the case has actually entered into the Canadian judicial procedure. In February 2004, the Canadian Federal Court rejected only the request of Lai Changxing for legal reconsideration of the case. The judicial reconsideration and the acceptance by the Federal Court of the case of Lai Changxing are two different concepts. Later, the attorney of Lai raised several reasons, requesting the Federal Court to accept the case of Lai Changxing. He added by saying, "as the reasons raised by the attorney of Lai Changxing have things mainly to do with the legal procedures the Canadian justice holds that these are the reasons of ordinary importance, and therefore, it is decided to accept the case of Lai Changxing." "Besides, the sentence of the case by the Federal Court is actually the re-sentence of the case and so how the case will come out is hard to tell for certain."

As to when Lai Changxing is possible to be repatriated to China, judging from the present situation according to the most sanguine analysis the earliest possible time is the later half of next year.

Canada turned out a haven for corrupted and evil officials escaped from China

Is it possible for Lai Changxing to get judicially handled in Canada and whether the case of Lai Changxing can be geared to the principle of "extradition or prosecution"? According to the analysis of Yang Cheng, Lai Changxing is a Chinese citizen who committed crimes in China. The object of his crime is China so he didn't constitute any harm to Canada. The jurisdiction in Canada is the territorial jurisdiction, and so the Canadian Court has actually no right to exercise jurisdiction over the case in which Lai Changxing committed crimes.

The case of Lai Changxing drags on and on without any decision. Where lies the crux of the problem? Yang Cheng told the reporter, this is mainly due to the Canadian domestic law in which it is weak in dealing with such a case. First of all, it is the problem for obtaining evidence. The Canadian government has to spend a lot of time and energy to get evidences from China in order to deny the qualification of Lai Changxing as a refugee and to prove that the reason for Lai Changxing to stay there as a refugee is groundless. It also takes a lot of time for the refugee court to rule the case. "Canada practices procedural notary. So long as one has money to hire an attorney and a better one it is possible to drag the case on by using every link of the judicial procedures, and so is the case of Lai Changxing," said Yang Cheng. On the other hand, the departments concerned in Canada do not know much about the law of China, including the arbitrators and judges. They take a circumspect attitude in dealing with such sort of a case. They have to get things clear out before handling as they do not know a bit about it, and therefore, it will take a lot of time.

To put all this in a nutshell, "so long as Lai Changxing still has sources in hand and is able to go to court it's possible for the lawsuit to drag on and on without end," Yang Cheng told the reporter.

At present, Canada has already become a haven for the corrupted and evil officials escaped from China. As briefed, none of the criminals escaped from China to Canada has so far been extradited. Whether this situation has something to do with the lack of certain mechanism between China and Canada? As Yang Cheng put it, the crux of the matter lies in whether the agreement between the two countries can be effectively executed. In 1994, China and Canada signed a "complementary agreement on criminal procedural law". This is an agreement, the first of its kind that China signed with the western countries. Another problem is that no agreement of extradition has so far been reached between China and Canada. "This is mainly because of a great conceptual difference between China and the western countries with regard to human rights, especially the death penalty," holds Yang Cheng. Besides, Yang Cheng is of the opinion that there is no agreement reached as how to break up the illicit money between China and the western countries. Therefore, he suggests that an agreement be reached in regard of the breakup of the illicit money between China and the western countries.

Article from China Youth Daily and translated by People's Daily Online