Feds rebuked for court ruling secrecy

MONTREAL — A Quebec Superior Court has ruled that it was inappropriate for the federal government to try to block publication of a court ruling in a case that has been shrouded in secrecy.

Federal Justice Department lawyers had argued that the ruling should remain secret to protect a police informant’s identity.

But Quebec Superior Court Judge Lukasz Granosik said that they had ”committed an abuse of process.”

The former informant is suing police officers, but all of the names of parties are redacted in a version of the ruling that was released on Wednesday.

The mysterious case has been making its way through the courts since at least 2022, following a conviction against the police informant. But while courts are supposed to be open and public under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, very little is known about the nature of this case.

Granosik issued the new ruling on Feb. 17.

Christian Leblanc, a lawyer representing a media coalition, said the recent Superior Court ruling reinforced the broader principle that courts must remain open and transparent. This also applies even in cases when there is a party at a trial who requests a publication ban, he added.

“The basic principle in law is that everything must be public,” he said. ”There may be a few exceptions, but they are exceptions, not the rule.”

The media outlets have argued that it is possible to release some details of the case without compromising the identity of the informant.

Julie Chenette, a lawyer who has followed the case but is not involved, praised the latest ruling, saying it showed that the Superior Court was firm in defending the principle of open court proceedings, ”which includes both hearings and judgments.”

Chenette said the case quickly became well known among legal circles. “There isn’t a single lawyer in Quebec who hasn’t heard of it,” she said.

The so-called secret trial involved an informant who was convicted of participating in a crime that he or she had initially revealed to the police. The existence of the trial only became public because the police informant accused in the case appealed their conviction.

The informant won their appeal, while claiming they were a victim of an abuse of process. The Court of Appeal noted that the original trial was “contrary to the fundamental principles that govern our justice system.”

» The Canadian Press

The informant is also suing the prosecutor, police force and three police officers for a combined total of at least $5.8 million in damages. The informant accused police officers of acting in bad faith by reneging on the co-operation deal and then allegedly blackmailing them.

Granosik’s ruling is not the first to conclude there was an abuse of process.

In 2022, the Quebec Court of Appeal issued a rebuke against the federal government over what has come to be known as the secret trial, which was first revealed in a report published by La Presse.

Leblanc added that a strong justice system relies on transparency and that maintaining public confidence prevents citizens from taking the law into their own hands.

The case will proceed as the informant pursues compensation.

» The Canadian Press