Jacques Bellemarre

The appellant, Director of the Montreal Urban Community Police Department, sought an injunction to prohibit the respondent inquiry commissioner from publishing information regarding police informers and confidential investigation methods.

The Superior Court and Court of Appeal dismissed the motion.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, finding that the requested injunction was no longer necessary given the issuance of a writ of evocation in a related case, which controlled the use and publication of such evidence.

The appellant, a peace officer, refused to disclose the identity of a police informer to a provincial inquiry commission investigating police activities.

The commissioner ordered him to answer, and the appellant sought a writ of evocation.

The Supreme Court of Canada held that while the commission's mandate was constitutionally valid, the commissioner exceeded his jurisdiction by attempting to compel the disclosure of a police informer's identity.

The Court ruled that the police informer privilege is an absolute common law rule of public order that falls under federal jurisdiction over criminal law, and cannot be abrogated or altered by provincial legislation such as the Code of Civil Procedure.