The Crown appealed a trial judge's order dismissing an application under s. 37 of the Canada Evidence Act and ordering the disclosure of edited police files relating to a confidential informer.
The accused, charged with weapons offences after a police stop based on an informer's tip, sought the files to challenge the search under the Charter.
The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, holding that the trial judge erred in finding that the edited documents would not tend to identify the informer.
Given the precise details provided by the informer, the pool of potential informers was very small, and any disclosure risked violating informer privilege.
