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Full-Text Articles in Criminal Procedure
Using Protection Of Privacy Legislation To Erode Privacy: R. V. Chehil, Steve Coughlan
Using Protection Of Privacy Legislation To Erode Privacy: R. V. Chehil, Steve Coughlan
Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press
The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal here in R. v. Chehil overturns the trial judge's conclusion that the accused had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the information the police obtained from the computer manifest. With respect, their application of the totality of the circumstances test is subject to question at several important points. For example, in assessing the objective reasonableness of an expectation of privacy, the Court of Appeal relies on the fact that the Westjet website informs customers that "information will be disclosed to the authorities without your knowledge and consent as required by law." The court then …
Improving Privacy Protection, But By How Much?, Steve Coughlan
Improving Privacy Protection, But By How Much?, Steve Coughlan
Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press
The discussion of reasonable expectation of privacy in R. v. M. (A.) is extremely useful. In the wake of Tessling, many courts had effectively reduced the protection offered by s. 8 based on two arguments: that what was detected was an emanation in the public domain similar to heat coming from a house, and that what was discovered merely related to informational privacy and was not part of the biographical core of such data. Justice Binnie's decision puts paid the notion that either of these arguments is a trump card. He suggests that generalizing about "emanations" is not a useful …
Privacy Goes To The Dogs, Steve Coughlan
Privacy Goes To The Dogs, Steve Coughlan
Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press
It becomes increasingly clear, with the decision of the Newfoundland Court of Appeal in R. v. Taylor, ante, that the question of whether police use of sniffer dogs constitutes a search, and if so when, will need to be addressed by the Supreme Court of Canada. In particular the question of whether R. v. Tessling has changed the approach to reasonable expectation of privacy as dramatically as some courts have suggested must be settled. Other questions will also need to be addressed.