The Exclusionary Rule
- March 16, 2014
- Clayton Rice, K.C.
In 1974 Parliament enacted Part IV.1 [now Part VI] of the Criminal Code known as the Protection of Privacy Act. 1 The legislation was a response to wiretapping by the police that was unsupervised by Parliament or the judiciary. 2 The…
Police Must Get Wiretap Order to Seize Text Messages
- March 2, 2014
- Clayton Rice, K.C.
In an important ruling released on March 27, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada held that text messages are private communications that are protected by Part VI of the Criminal Code. In a case reported as R. v. Telus Communications…
Supreme Court Clarifies the Law of Police Safety Searches
- February 16, 2014
- Clayton Rice, K.C.
In an important judgment released on January 17, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada clarified the constitutional requirements of police searches conducted to ensure the safety of the police or the public. In R. v. MacDonald, 2014 SCC 3 two…
Judge Throws Out Prosecutors’ Applications in Wiretap Case
- February 2, 2014
- Clayton Rice, K.C.
The four defendants in a wiretap case I have before Justice Brian R. Burrows in the Court of Queen’s Bench, at Edmonton, brought evidence suppression motions regarding historic text messages seized by the police from a telephone service provider. The…
Wiretap Limitations
- January 16, 2014
- Clayton Rice, K.C.
In 1979 five men and a woman were charged with conspiracy to traffic marijuana in Edmonton, Alberta. Wiretap evidence was new and central to the state’s case. I had been practicing in Alberta for only two years. The closest I…