Canadian Privacy Decisions

The complainant requested specific case information from the Department of Justice Canada (Justice), concerning cases filed with the Tax Court of Canada related to section 245 of the Income Tax Act. Justice withheld the records, citing solicitor-client and litigation privilege under section 23 of the Access to Information Act. The Information Commissioner found that Justice failed to establish that the identification of the responsive records hinged on privileged information and recommended full disclosure. Justice declined to implement the recommendation.

• Application of section 23 (solicitor-client and litigation privilege)
• Whether the identification of responsive records required privileged information
• Whether the information in the iCase database was subject to privilege
• Whether disclosed pleadings would indirectly reveal privileged information