LAWS 2301 Lecture Notes - Crown Attorney, Client Confidentiality, Viral Load
19 Feb 2014
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The crown attorney (as a minister of justice) has to provide disclosure (to the defense), even before the charter was made: they are supposed to be impartial, and therefore the accused must have a fair trial. If the crown has information that is helpful to the accused, the crown must hand it over to the defense. If they don"t provide full disclosure in time, the case can be dismissed. If it is not strong enough, they may withdraw the charges. There has been (often) an element of non-disclosure in wrongful conviction cases. Does not have the obligation to disclose case/information to the crown attorney. He has the advantage of having all the information. Why: because the crown has more resources than the defense, because of client lawyer privileges. Ex: if client says he has done it, the defense lawyer cannot tell the court that he is guilty. Everything you say to your lawyer stays in the defense lawyer"s office.
