SCC Holds Disclosure Of Private Communications Engages Constitutional Rights

In its Nov. 14, 2014 decision in Wakeling v. United States of America, 2014 SCC 72, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) held that s. 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the Charter) (the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure) applies to the disclosure of communications obtained through a wiretap to police authorities in a foreign jurisdiction.

In the course of a drug investigation, the RCMP obtained a warrant to intercept Mr. Wakeling's telephone conversations. When the wiretap disclosed communications relating to an apparent plan to smuggle drugs across the Canada-U.S. border, the RCMP shared the...