CCLA Before the Supreme Court in CBC v. R to Oppose ‘Secret Trials’

TORONTO — The CCLA will appear before the Supreme Court of Canada in Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, et al. v. His Majesty the King, et al. today.

This appeal concerns a Quebec trial where a police informant was prosecuted entirely in secret. The trial did not appear on the court docket, the trial judge’s decision was not released, and all details of the proceedings were unknown to the public.

“Secret trials should be unheard of in a free and democratic society. This case is a critical opportunity for the Supreme Court to uphold the importance of open courts and the limits on secrecy in the court system,” said Shakir Rahim, Director of the Criminal Justice Program.

“Courts should never hold a trial entirely in secret.”

The CCLA will make two arguments before the Supreme Court of Canada:

First, the provincial statutory court in Quebec did not have authority to grant the sweeping confidentiality order that it did. The rules about protecting the identities of police informers and the Criminal Code do not give a statutory court the power to hold a trial entirely in secret.

Second, if a court is making a confidentiality order in any case, it should generally provide non-media organizations with the opportunity to weigh in on its nature and scope. Right now, media organizations can usually make arguments to the court on confidentiality orders. Hearing from interested civil society groups would provide another important perspective to the court.

The CCLA is grateful to Adam Goldenberg and Simon Bouthillier of McCarthy Tétrault for their excellent pro bono representation in this case.

Read CCLA’s factum here.