Canadian Court Rules Prior Judicial Authorization Necessary for Legal Assistance Request to Foreign Government

Mr. Justice Howard Wetston of the Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division, ruled on July 4, 1996, that the Canadian standard for the issuance of a search warrant was required before the Ministry of Justice could request the assistance of a foreign government for a Canadian citizen’s bank records abroad. In addition to the far-reaching legal and practical ramifications of the ruling to Canada’s existing MLATs, the ruling may jeopardize the very sensitive RCMP investigation of potential official corruption, reaching the highest levels of Canadian government, with regard to the 1988 purchase of airplanes by Air Canada from Airbus Industrie...(more).