Lets just say Osama bin Laden, you know the guy who has been frightening all of us with his taped messages, decides to give up his 'jihad' and seek refuge in Canada.

What will our justice system, that relies heavily on precedence and little on common sense, do

Will we extradite him to the United States that wants to kill him for the 9/11 attacks

Or will we seek an assurance from our already annoyed neighbour that he will not be executed

Several Canadian courts and lesser judicial bodies, taking the lead from the wigged wonders who sit on our Supreme bench, have been tossing out extradition requests from countries that have the death penalties. Some have gone to the extent of sitting in judgement of the request nation's law enforcement and court systems saying they are corrupt and ineffective.

This has led to a growing industry where suspects wanted in other nations for everything from corruption to murder launch expensive complicated legal challenges while staying in Canada.

The doors for those accused in foreign lands and face judicial death warrants were officially thrown wide open by a Supreme Court of Canada ruling last year.

In a landmark decision on February 16, 2001 the Supreme Court of Canada overturned an extradition order against Atif Ahmad Rafay and Glen Sebastian Burns, two B.C. men who were accused of bludgeoning Rafay's mother, father and sister to death in Washington state and then fleeing to Vancouver.

The order had been made without assurances.The court ruled that delivering the accused murderers to a foreign jurisdiction where they might face the death penalty would offend "fundamental justice," and that Canada must first seek assurances they would not be executed.

Since then a Canadian court has ruled that one of the most wanted men in the Philippines, Rodolfo Pacificador, who is accused of a series of political assassinations, should not be sent home to face trial. The ruling which stops Canada from handing over Pacificador to the authorities in Manila held that "all evidence points to the likelihood that the extraditee would be tortured and jailed indefinitely without trial."

The judgement was handed down despite direct assurances from the Philippine president and the country's justice ministry that the accused will get a fair and speedy trial.

Now we have the case of Canadian bank robber Mike Karas who stands accused of killing his partner and dismembering her body in Thailand.

After six years of legal wrangling between Bangkok and Ottawa, there is no end in sight for the Karas case. A B.C. judge has ruled that Karas should not be extradited for murder but manslaughter. Somebody, we can only guess, forgot to tell the judge that there is no such criminal offence in Thailand.

Bangkok has also failed over the last decade to get hold of fugitive financier Rakesh Saxena, who also claims he will be killed if returned to Thailand. But unlike Karas who sits in jail, Saxena has a curious court arrangement where he can live in luxury in a False Creek condo under the watchful eyes of security guards, whom he pays for.

Accused smuggling kingpin Lai Changxing, wanted in China for crimes "committed against heaven and earth" also applied for and got the same arrangement. He lives in Burnaby.

The current Canadian system of dealing with those wanted overseas is complicated, arbitrary and heavily influenced by politics.

In the case of the Philippines we will not believe their assurances.

In the case of China, with whom Canada's Liberal government has close ties, we believe they will not kill Lai the smuggling mastermind despite the nation executing about a dozen others involved in the scandal.

In the case of Thailand, if they give an assurance not to execute Karas and in the unlikely event Canada believes it, the bank robber will be the first Canadian extradited to that country.

All of this brings us back to the first point.

What are we to do if Osama bin Laden comes to Canada Let him stay in a False Creek condo with his own bodyguards while we seek assurances from a revenge-seeking George Bush that he will not execute the terrorist

Canada's system of dealing with those accused of crimes overseas is in dire need of some uniformity.

Like many things Canadian, the system is fractured.

A central extradition court with judges and investigative prosecutors who understand the complexities of dealing with foreign laws is something that Ottawa should seriously consider.