Canada Case Law

Dempsey v. Pagefreezer Software Inc.

Court

Nova Scotia Court of Appeal

The court granted the respondents' request to seal the identified affidavits because all three Sherman Estate factors were satisfied: (1) an important public interest existed in maintaining confidentiality, notably judicial comity given existing British Columbia sealing orders; (2) sealing was necessary because redaction was not a reasonable alternative as the confidential material pervaded the affidavits and redaction would render the documents unintelligible or impractical to produce; and (3) on proportionality the benefits of preserving comity and protecting confidential commercial and set…

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• Sealing orders
• Sherman estate test
• Redaction as alternative measure
• Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments
• Security for costs

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Puebla v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration)

Court

Federal Court

Federal Court dismissed the judicial review of an RPD refugee refusal, holding the no-credible-basis and credibility findings were reasonable and refusing an anonymization order.

• Credibility assessment
• No credible basis
• Unclean hands
• Standard of review (reasonableness)
• Confidentiality/anonymization orders
• Judicial-review

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Further Detention of Things Seized (Re)

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court held that an earlier sealing order did not cover a later s. 490(3) application and refused a fresh sealing order on the record before it.

• S.487.3 sealing orders
• S.490 detention of seized items
• Dagenais/mentuck test
• Statutory interpretation
• Timing and registry of orders
• Sealing-orders

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R. v. Sipes

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court held that media have presumptive, timely access to trial exhibits, subject to timely objections and the Dagenais/Mentuck test.

• Media access to court exhibits
• Publication bans
• Dagenais/mentuck test
• Court record disclosure procedure
• Onus for restricting access
• Media-access-to-court-exhibits

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A v. Canada (Attorney General)

Court

Federal Court

The Federal Court granted a limited confidentiality order, protecting the applicants’ names, addresses and a few specific personal details, but refusing broader sealing.

• Confidentiality orders
• Pseudonymity
• Judicial review
• Redaction
• Balance between privacy and open court
• Confidentiality-orders

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Blue Line Hockey Acquisition Co., Inc. v. Orca Bay Hockey Limited Partnership

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court clarified a media-access protocol for trial exhibits, refusing blanket requests and requiring specific identification of documents while expecting timely counsel responses.

• Access to exhibits
• Publication of documents
• Trial management
• Media protocol for requests
• Access-to-exhibits
• Media-access

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Canada (Minister Of Citizenship And Immigration) v. Tiky

Court

Federal Court

The Federal Court dismissed last-minute motions for confidentiality, anonymization, and a supplementary affidavit in an immigration judicial review.

• Confidentiality
• Publication ban
• Anonymity
• Judicial review procedure
• Late filing of evidence
• Publication-ban

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