The Crown sought a ruling permitting use, in direct examination of the complainant, of materials disclosed by the defence during an in camera application for directions under the Criminal Code s. 278.93 framework.
The court held the materials were not “records” under s. 278.1 and had already been ruled outside the s. 278.93 regime.
It rejected the Crown’s reliance on R. v. J.J., finding that decision did not create a general disclosure obligation requiring advance defence disclosure of such material for trial use by the Crown.
The court emphasized that criminal disclosure obligations are not symmetrical and that penalizing defence counsel for responsibly seeking directions would be imprudent.
The Crown was prohibited from using the disclosed materials in direct examination, without affecting Crown re-examination at trial.
