C-25.1 - Code of Penal Procedure

Section 124 Disposition versions

2020-07-13

124. On the application of the prosecutor or of a person who proposes to execute or has executed a warrant, a telewarrant, an order provided for in article 141.5 or 141.6 or any other judicial authorization, the judge may make an order, to the extent that it is necessary to do so, to prohibit access to or the communication of information or documents relating to the warrant, telewarrant, order or other judicial authorization or those relating to an application made under this paragraph. Such an order is made where the judge considers that such access or communication would be prejudicial to the ends of justice or where the information or documents could be used for unlawful ends and where the risk outweighs the importance of access to the information, in particular in the following cases:

(1)  the confidentiality of the identity of an informant would be compromised;

(2)  the information or document could interfere with an investigation in progress relating to the commission of an offence;

(3)  the information or document could endanger persons who use secret intelligence-gathering techniques and would compromise subsequent investigations in which such techniques would be used; or

(4)  the information or document could cause prejudice to an innocent third party.

The judge shall make the order to prohibit access to or the communication of information or documents under the first paragraph, subject to any terms and conditions the judge considers appropriate in the circumstances, in particular with respect to the duration of the prohibition, the partial communication of information or a document, deletion of certain information or the occurrence of a condition. The prohibition regarding access to or communication of information or a document referred to in subparagraph 2 of the first paragraph expires not later than the time the information or document is submitted as evidence in proceedings.

Where an order to prohibit access or communication is made, all the information or documents covered by the order, including the information or documents relating to the application made under the first paragraph, are sealed, subject to any terms and conditions set out in the order. The sealed documents shall be kept in the custody of the court in a place the public cannot access or any other place the judge authorizes. They shall not be disposed of except in accordance with the terms and conditions specified by the judge in the order or as varied under the fourth paragraph.

An application to terminate an order or vary any of its terms or conditions may be made to the judge who made it or to a judge of the court that may be seized of the proceedings resulting from the investigation in the course of which the warrant, the telewarrant, the order provided for in article 141.5 or 141.6 or the other judicial authorization was issued.

1987, c. 96, a. 124; 2020, c. 12, s. 32.

1990-10-01

124. On the application of a person who proposes to make or has made a search, or of the prosecutor, the judge may, in the interests of justice, make an order

(1)  to allow the removal, from a document referred to in article 123, of the names of persons who constitute sources of information or facts that may lead to the disclosure of such sources;

(2)  to temporarily prohibit access to a document referred to in article 123 but only until it is submitted as evidence in proceedings, where the examination of the document may interfere with an investigation in progress relating to the commission of an offence.

1987, c. 96, a. 124.