Top Five 2010: R v National Post
Each year at OJEN’s Toronto Summer Law Institute, a judge from the Court of Appeal for Ontario identifies five cases that are of significance in the educational setting. This summary, based on these comments and observations, is appropriate for discussion and debate in the classroom setting.
R v National Post, 2010 SCC 16, [2010] 1 SCR 477
A reporter from the National Post was in the possession of documents that were allegedly proof of a third party’s fraudulent activity. The police obtained a warrant to find the documents, but the reporter applied to the court to have search warrants set aside. The reporter argued that the documents were obtained through a confidential source. In this case, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) determined that although the courts strive to “protect the media’s secret sources where such protection is in the public interest,” this protection does not extend with the same force to physical evidence [para. 3]. The full decision is available here.
