Alberta's Attorney General, Mickey Amery, has filed an unusual court application to quash a federal cabinet order that overturned the 1989 murder conviction of Roy Sobotiak.
Blacklock's Reporter says Amery argues that Canadians deserve transparent reasons for any claim of miscarriage of justice, and the cabinet's decision lacked sufficient explanation ¹.
Sobotiak, 62, was convicted of second-degree murder in 1987 for strangling a family friend during a sexual assault and dismembering her body.
His conviction was based on a confession to an undercover detective. The victim's remains were never found.
The federal cabinet's decision to overturn Sobotiak's conviction was made without providing written reasons or new evidence, according to Amery.
The Attorney General argues that the federal justice minister owes a duty of procedural fairness to provide written reasons for exercising discretion to order a new trial.
Amery's application asks a federal judge to quash the order for a new trial and declare that procedural fairness requires the minister to provide reasons for decisions when exercising discretion to order a new trial. The federal cabinet has yet to respond.