The Effect of False or Misleading Information on the Validity of the Search Authority


Applications for search warrants and authorizations to intercept private communications under Part VI are ex parte proceedings. As a result, the author of the supportive document must make full, fair and frank disclosure of all material facts so that the authorizing judge or justice can assess whether the contents satisfy the conditions precedent to issuance of the search authority: R. v. Araujo, 2000 SCC 65, [2000] 2 S.C.R. 998, at para. 46.

The obligation to make full, fair and frank disclosure of all material facts in an ITO or Part VI affidavit is a function of the ex parte nature of the procedure involved in obtaining the search authority.

R. v. Donnelly, 2016 ONCA 988 at para 82.     

Without more, inclusion of false or misleading information in the ITO or supportive affidavit does not vitiate the search authority. The reviewing judge excludes the erroneous information and then determines whether there remains reliable information that might reasonably be believed on the basis of which the search authority could have issued.

R. v. Vu, 2013 SCC 60, [2013] 3 S.C.R. 657, at para. 16; Araujo, at para. 54.

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