The Office of the Children's Lawyer (OCL) brought an application under sections 119 or 123 of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) for access to youth records of an adult respondent.
The records were sought for use in a Superior Court family law divorce proceeding concerning parenting and decision-making.
The court determined that section 123 of the YCJA applied, as the access period for the records had expired.
After conducting a private review of the records, the court dismissed the application, finding that none of the records met the stringent test for access, emphasizing the high expectation of privacy in mental health records, the lack of probative value, and the potential prejudice to the respondent.
The court also issued additional orders prohibiting future unlawful references to youth records in the family proceedings and mandating the immediate redaction of existing references in pleadings and documents.
