On July 31, 2014, the Federal Court of Appeal released its judgment in X (Re), 2014 FCA 249 upholding a Federal Court ruling that limited the scope of powers that may be exercised by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) while carrying out surveillance of Canadians abroad. This per curiam judgment ...
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We have all heard the argument by those who are not opposed to government surveillance: "I've got nothing to hide." In the United Kingdom the use of closed circuit television in public places is pandemic. The advance of the British government's CCTV program moved forward with the motto: "If you've ...
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In a decision released on October 17, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada had a rare opportunity to consider s. 193 of the Criminal Code which makes it a crime to disclose or use an intercepted private communication without the consent of the originator or the intended recipient of the ...
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In a judgment released on September 12, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada established a new test for when an appellate court may interfere with the adversarial system by raising an issue not previously raised by the parties. The decision attempts to strike a balance between two competing roles for ...
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On June 5, 2013, the British newspaper The Guardian reported the first of several leaks of classified material from Edward Snowdon, a former National Security Agency contractor, which revealed multiple U.S. government intelligence collection and surveillance programs. The NSA bulk telephony metadata program has come under scrutiny since the Snowdon leaks ...
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In a recent wiretap trial I concluded in Edmonton Justice Brian R. Burrows of the Court of Queen's Bench decided a trilogy of motions excluding voice identification evidence obtained by the police in breach of the defendant's right to counsel and right to timely disclosure. In the first ruling reported ...
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For nine months from October 2013 to June 2014 I defended a drug conspiracy case in Edmonton which included a wire tap component. During the investigation the police obtained a General Warrant granted by Judge Marilena Carminati who is a Provincial Court Judge in Edmonton. The warrant authorized the police ...
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In a judgment released on June 13, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously recognized that Canadians have a reasonable expectation of privacy in subscriber information held by their internet service providers. In R. v. Spencer, 2014 SCC 43 Justice Thomas A. Cromwell concluded, at para. 66, that the, "...disclosure ...
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A wiretap authorization may only be granted by a superior court judge. The application is made by an agent of the Attorney General of a province or the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. An agent is specially designated under the Criminal Code. The application is usually based on ...
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In two major developments in Canada the courts have enhanced the protection of information stored by citizens on their computers and smart phones. In R. v. Vu, [2013] 3 S.C.R. 657 the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously held that the privacy interests implicated by computer searches call for specific judicial ...
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