Canada (Attorney General) v. Several Clients and Several Solicitors,

• Jurisdiction: Nova Scotia
• Court: Supreme Court of Nova Scotia (Canada)
• Citation: (2000), 189 N.S.R.(2d) 313 (SC)
• Date: 17 July 2000

Can. (A.G.) v. Several Clients (2000), 189 N.S.R.(2d) 313 (SC);

 590 A.P.R. 313

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2000] N.S.R.(2d) TBEd. AU.018

The Attorney General of Canada v. Several Clients and Several Solicitors

(C.R. 164950)

Indexed As: Canada (Attorney General) v. Several Clients and Several Solicitors

Nova Scotia Supreme Court

Kennedy, C.J.S.C.

July 19, 2000.

Summary:

Section 488.1 of the Criminal Code gov­erned the seizure of documents from law offices and the procedure for a claim of solicitor-client privilege with respect to seized documents. An application was brought to challenge the constitutionality of s. 488.1 on the basis that it breached s. 8 of the Charter.

The Nova Scotia Supreme Court held that s. 488.1 breached s. 8 of the Charter and could not be saved by s. 1 of the Charter.

Civil Rights - Topic 1525

Property - Personal property - Personal papers - [See Civil Rights - Topic 8348 ].

Civil Rights - Topic 1646

Property - Search and seizure - Unrea­sonable search and seizure defined - [See Civil Rights - Topic 8348 ].

Civil Rights - Topic 8348

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - Application - Exceptions - Reasonable limits prescribed by law (Charter, s. 1) - Section 488.1 of the Criminal Code gov­erned the seizure of documents from law offices and the procedure for a claim of solicitor-client privilege with respect to seized documents - The Nova Scotia Supreme Court held that s. 488.1 breached

s. 8 of the Charter and could not be saved by s. 1 of the Charter.

Criminal Law - Topic 3055

Special powers - Search warrants - Execu­tion of - Law offices - [See Civil Rights - Topic 8348 ].

Evidence - Topic 4237

Witnesses - Privilege - Lawyer-client com­munications - Documents - General - [See Civil Rights - Topic 8348 ].

Evidence - Topic 4245.3

Witnesses - Privilege - Lawyer-client communications - Privilege - Law office searches - [See Civil Rights - Topic 8348 ].

Cases Noticed:

Lavallee, Rackel and Heintz et al. v. Canada (Attorney General) (1998), 218 A.R. 229; 126 C.C.C.(3d) 129 (Q.B.), affd. (2000), 255 A.R. 86; 220 W.A.C. 86 (C.A.), folld. [para. 8].

Festing v. Canada (Attorney General), [2000] B.C.T.C. 200 (S.C.), folld. [para. 8].

R. v. Piersanti & Co., [2000] O.T.C. Uned. 71 (Sup. Ct.), not folld. [para. 8].

R. v. Fink (J.), [2000] O.T.C. 29 (Sup. Ct.), not folld. [para. 8].

R. v. Claus (T.) (1999), 107 O.T.C. 234 (Sup. Ct.), folld. [para. 8].

White, Ottenheimer & Baker v. Canada (Attorney General) (2000), 190 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 181; 576 A.P.R. 181 (Nfld. C.A.), folld. [para. 8].

Descoteaux v. Mierzwinski, [1982] 1 S.C.R. 860; 44 N.R. 462; 70 C.C.C.(2d) 385, refd to. [para. 34].

Statutes Noticed:

Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, sect. 488.1 [para. 2].

Counsel:

David Schermbrucker, for the Attorney General of Canada;

Anne S. Derrick, for a law firm;

Lance W. Scaravelli, for a law firm and clients.

This application was heard on July 17, 2000, at Halifax, Nova Scotia, before Kennedy, C.J.S.C., of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, who delivered the following decision orally on July 19, 2000, with writ­ten reasons released on July 31, 2000.