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“It is uncommon, but it’s certainly not unheard of. Canada has prosecuted quite a number of extraterritorial crimes,” Currie said, adding that only certain crimes committed abroad can be prosecuted in Canada, including hostage-taking and a number of terrorism-related offences.

Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

For instance, the man alleged to have made ransom demands during Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout’s kidnapping in Somalia is currently standing trial in Ottawa. He was lured to Canada as part of a sting operation.

But Lindhout’s case is one of a rare few, Currie said.

“It’s fairly infrequent, because the preference always is for crimes to be prosecuted in the country that they take place, or the country that most of the elements of the crime take place, because usually — not always but usually — it’s that country that has the most interest in prosecuting them.”

Boyle called on Friday for the Taliban leadership to punish his Haqqani captors. A day later he told The Canadian Press that he wanted to give Taliban leaders “a final chance to actually try to rectify these crimes against humanity, before we turn to other outlets to seek our justice.”

Photo by AP Photo/Bill Gorman, File

It’s not yet clear what’s happened to everyone involved in Boyle’s kidnapping. He has described his rescue last Wednesday as involving a shoot-out. His father, Patrick Boyle, told reporters that some of the captors were killed. Joshua Boyle said in a video recorded before he left Pakistan that some of the other captors “ran like cowards” when the Pakistani military started shooting, though the conditions under which the video was shot are unclear.

Should they be caught elsewhere, they could be extradited to Canada under treaties held between the countries. Alternately, they could be brought to Canada under less conventional means like a sting operation, as was the case for one of Lindhout’s accused captors.

Federal justice officials must weigh a number of considerations when determining whether to prosecute in Canada, Currie said.

“It simply needs to be worked out which country has the greatest interest in prosecuting,” he said. Then, it has to be determined whether it’s even feasible to bring the trial abroad.