The Docket

Hockey Licks and A Broken Extradition System

05.10.2018 - By Michael Spratt, Emilie TamanPlay

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Is it a criminal offence to lick an opponent during a hockey game? After Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand licked Tampa Bay Lightning's Ryan Callahan during a play off game this is a burning issue. So, Emilie and I dive into the law around consent fights and look at fighting in sport. Why can someone consent to bodily harm on the ice but not off it? What is the legal standard for proving an assault? And when is a lick a sexual assault?

But we lead off the episode on a much more important topic - the tragic case of Hassan Diab who was order extradited to France for his alleged role in the bombing of a Paris synagogue. The evidence was weak and a secret government memo uncovered by the CBC reveals that Canada helped France patch up its case and actively withheld evidence that could have shown Diab's innocence. 

Diab never did face trial in France. After 38 months of solitary confinement in a French dungeon, after missing the birth of his daughter, after losing years of his life, Diab was released and all charges were dropped by a French judge. 

Emile and I discuss why Diab should never had been extradited in the first place and why the Canadian judge did not have the power to throw out a shockingly weak case.

And we end with a short conversation about the Toronto van attack and why there have been no terrorism charges.

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