By Canadian Press

Quebec Court of Appeal says details of secret trial must remain hidden from public

Jul 20, 2022 | 10:00 AM

MONTREAL — Quebec’s Court of Appeal has rejected requests to publicly disclose details about a secret trial involving a police informant.

The province’s high court delivered a redacted decision today, ruling that the right of informants to stay anonymous supersedes the principle of court proceedings being open to the public.

Four motions seeking more information about the secret case were filed, including from the province’s attorney general, the chief judge of the Quebec court and various media organizations, including The Canadian Press.

A three-judge Court of Appeal panel ordered all details of the case that could identify the informant to remain sealed. 

The panel, however, ruled that Chief Judge Lucie Rondeau could receive a copy of the ruling with several paragraphs unredacted.

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The original case involved an informant who was convicted of participating in a crime that he or she had initially revealed to police.

The case was not given a docket number, and its details were kept secret, including the nature of the crime and where it allegedly took place, the name of the judge involved, and the names of the lawyers.

The existence of the trial only became public because the informant appealed his or her conviction and because the Court of Appeal released a redacted decision that stayed the conviction and that was highly critical of the secrecy surrounding the trial.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 20, 2022.

The Canadian Press