R. v. Tse

R. v. Tse

The court ordered in‑part disclosure of the three immigration files, specifying pages to be disclosed and pages to be withheld or redacted after applying the second‑stage O'Connor balancing test; where material related to ongoing investigations had only minimal probative value the court upheld public interest...

Source-derived case information.

Citation
2008 BCSC 1793
Parties
Crown: Regina; Accused: Yat Fung Albert Tse; Accused: Viet Bac Nguyen; Accused: Nhan Trong Ly; Accused: Daniel Luis Soux; Accused: Huong Dac Doan; Accused: Myles Alexander Vandrick; Third Party (government): Canada Border Services Agency and Citizenship and Immigration Canada; Witness / Third Party: Jennifer Pan
Court
Supreme Court of British Columbia
Jurisdiction
Canada
Judgment Date
31 December 2008
Procedural Posture
Criminal / Second Stage O'connor Disclosure Application (pre Trial)
Outcome
Application granted in part and denied in part: specified pages of three immigration files ordered disclosed to Crown and accused in edited/redacted form; certain pages withheld or redacted due to public interest privilege, privacy or irrelevance; confidentiality conditions and sealing imposed.
Legal Topics
Disclosure, O'connor Procedure, Public Interest Privilege, Third Party Records, Redaction, Interception of Communications, Third Party Notice
Source Language
english
Criminal Law Evidence Privacy Law Immigration Law Administrative Law Disclosure O'connor Procedure Public Interest Privilege +4 more

Source-derived case record

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

More case intelligence is available

Unlock the full research layer for this judgment.

Full judgment text Legal principles 4 Authorities cited 3 Party arguments 2 Amounts and remedies 3
Sign in to unlock

Parties

Regina

Crown

Yat Fung Albert Tse

Accused

Viet Bac Nguyen

Accused

Nhan Trong Ly

Accused

Daniel Luis Soux

Accused

Huong Dac Doan

Accused

Myles Alexander Vandrick

Accused

Canada Border Services Agency and Citizenship and Immigration Canada

Third Party (government)

Jennifer Pan

Witness / Third Party

Procedural Posture

Criminal / Second Stage O'connor Disclosure Application (pre Trial)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether immigration files of a Crown witness (Jennifer Pan) are disclosable to the accused under R. v. O'Connor
  2. 2 Balancing necessity for full answer and defence against privacy expectations of witness and third parties
  3. 3 Whether public interest privilege arising from ongoing investigations outweighs probative value

Ratio Decidendi

The court ordered in‑part disclosure of the three immigration files, specifying pages to be disclosed and pages to be withheld or redacted after applying the second‑stage O'Connor balancing test; where material related to ongoing investigations had only minimal probative value the court upheld public interest privilege and ordered redaction or non‑disclosure; translations and intercepted communications were largely disclosed subject to confidentiality limits and restriction on copying; identifying information likely to reveal present whereabouts was to be redacted.

Court Disposition

Application granted in part and denied in part: specified pages of three immigration files ordered disclosed to Crown and accused in edited/redacted form; certain pages withheld or redacted due to public interest privilege, privacy or irrelevance; confidentiality conditions and sealing imposed.

Orders

  • Disclose identified pages of File #1 (5 pages), File #2 (261 pages) and File #3 (306 pages) as listed in judgment subject to specified redactions
  • Withhold or redact pages and portions that would prejudice ongoing investigations under public interest privilege