Case information

None.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Civil procedure – Evidence – Objection to the evidence – Interlocutory orders – Whether the doctrine of professional secrecy under article 9 of the Charter of human rights and freedoms, R.S.Q., c. C-12, protect communications between an expert and a lawyer, where the lawyer is acting in his client’s interests in communicating with the expert – Whether the common law concept of litigation privilege has been absorbed into the civil law doctrine of professional secrecy – Whether there is a principled basis that courts should follow in determining when and how common law concepts of privilege can inform the civil law doctrine of professional secrecy – Whether an otherwise protected communication is admissible into evidence as a result of it become publicly available, notwithstanding the fact the beneficiary of the protection never waived such protection – Charter of human rights and freedoms, R.S.Q., c. C-12.

Imperial Tobacco Canada Limited (“Imperial Tobacco”) and its co-defendants in two class actions currently being heard together before the Superior Court objected to the plaintiffs’ attempt to file into evidence at trial a draft of a research paper. Imperial Tobacco objected to the filing of this draft paper claiming it was protected by professional secrecy under article 9 of the Quebec Charter.