OTTAWA, February 27, 2004 - The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Irwin Cotler, today announced that Justice officials will, on a priority basis, develop draft amendments to more efficiently and effectively implement the Charter-mandated obligation of the prosecution to disclose all relevant information in its possession to an accused. These draft amendments would seek to address disclosure problems encountered in the prosecution of complex criminal trials.

"The Crown has a constitutional duty to disclose all relevant information to the defence," said the Minister. "However, in recent years, increasingly sophisticated and complex criminal prosecutions have highlighted how the sheer volume of information - the copying and transmission of hundreds of thousands of pages of documents - can create an enormous burden for both the Crown and the defence in matters related to disclosure."

Justice officials have been asked to examine and develop proposed amendments to:

• facilitate the electronic disclosure of materials to the defence;
• reduce administrative burdens in disclosure by clarifying the core materials to be given to the defence, while ensuring the defence's right of access to all relevant information;
• set up specialized court proceedings to provide a way for parties to deal expeditiously with all matters pertaining to disclosure, including relevance;
• establish disclosure management procedures that would clearly set out obligations relating to disclosure, including timelines;
• address any improper use of disclosed materials.

The Minister added that officials will be guided by the need to respect the rights and interests of all participants in the justice system, including witnesses and victims. Specific proposals will be put forward for consultations with the legal community and the general public
by May 2004.

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Backgrounder: Disclosure Reform