Meagan Williams

The accused brought a motion seeking a stay of criminal proceedings until the Ministry of the Attorney General provided funding for counsel pursuant to the Rowbotham doctrine.

The court reviewed the criteria requiring proof of indigence, exhaustion of Legal Aid appeals, and that representation by counsel is necessary to ensure a fair trial.

Although the charges involved a multi‑week fraud and conspiracy trial with significant documentary evidence, the accused had extensive legal training and prior experience as a practicing lawyer, including criminal advocacy.

The court concluded that counsel would be beneficial but was not necessary to ensure a fair trial, and the accused also failed to prove indigence on the balance of probabilities.

The application for a Rowbotham order and stay of proceedings was dismissed.

The Republic of France sought the extradition of the applicant's common law spouse in connection with a terrorist bombing.

The applicant, who was not a target of the investigation, had her home and office work computers seized pursuant to search warrants issued under the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act.

The application judge made a partial sending order directing that electronic images of the hard drives be sent to France, rejecting the applicant's argument that the search violated her s. 8 Charter rights.

The applicant sought leave to appeal the partial sending order.

The Court of Appeal granted leave to appeal, finding that the applicant's claim to a reasonable expectation of privacy in her personal electronic data on her work computers raised a serious issue of general importance.