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.

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Constitutional law – Division of powers – Powers of judiciary – Powers of Attorney General – Trial – Abuse of Process – Constitutional line between judicial and executive power relative to judicial inquiry into prosecutorial discretion – Whether Court of Appeal erred by requiring Crown to justify decision to discontinue trial and then appeal directed acquittals – Whether Court of Appeal erred in finding abuse of process – Whether rule against interlocutory appeals applicable to Crown’s decision to halt prosecution and appeal directed acquittals.

The accused were charged with drug and criminal organization offences. In pre-trial proceedings, defence counsel brought a motion challenging a wiretap authorization and a motion to have a Crown counsel removed as counsel at trial or precluded from acting as Crown counsel in the proceedings related to the wiretap authorisation. During the motion to remove Crown counsel, Crown counsel sought to limit cross-examination of a police officer and brought a motion for recusal of the trial judge. The trial judge denied the motion. Crown counsel decided to call no evidence in the trial. Defence counsel applied for directed verdicts of acquittals and the Crown appealed the acquittals.