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ARTICLE · 02 JANUARY 2020

Disclosure Of Evidence By The Crown In Electronic Format Needs To Be Organized And Accessible

Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
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In a judgment released on December 10, 2019, the Court of Quebec, Criminal and Penal Division,...

CanadaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Sophie Melchers
Sophie Melchers
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In a judgment released on December 10, 2019, the Court of Quebec, Criminal and Penal Division, in R. v. Morris, 2019 QCCQ 7635, confirmed that when the Crown chooses to disclose its evidence in a criminal or regulatory proceeding in an electronic format, it has a duty to organize the evidence and format it in a way that makes it accessible to the defendant.

In this case, in connection with alleged breaches of the Tax Administration Act, the Crown disclosed most of its evidence – roughly 50,000 items – in electronic format, on CDs, DVDs and USB keys, through six successive waves.

The Defendant complained that this electronic disclosure was not organized and came without any search engine or software allowing for searches by keywords or by field or even allowing the identification of duplicates as between waves of disclosure. The Defendant argued that his right to full answer and defense protected by Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was

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