R v Tse

R v Tse [2012] 1 S.C.R. 531, 2012 SCC 16 is a Supreme Court of Canada decision regarding the constitutionality of warrant-less wiretaps in emergency situations. The Court found that the emergency wiretap provisions found in section 184.4 of the Criminal Code infringe on the search and seizure rights in section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and cannot be justified as a reasonable limitation under section 1 of the Charter, due to the lack of accountability measures.

In addition to the two parties to the case (the Attorney General of British Columbia and the various defendants), the Court heard from the following interveners: the Attorney General of Canada, the Attorney General of Ontario, the Attorney General of Quebec, the Criminal Lawyers' Association (Ontario), the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. The unanimous decision of the Court was the first Supreme Court of Canada decision written by Justices Moldaver and Karakatsanis.

Background

Section 184.4 of the Criminal Code

Generally, the police cannot intercept a person's private telecommunications (such as a wiretap), with certain exceptions, such as the consent of one of the parties to the communications in combination with judicial authorization, or with a warrant. and

Section 184.4 of the Criminal Code does not require any prior judicial authorization. Instead, three requirements must be met:

The police officer has reasonable grounds that due to the urgency of the situation, prior judicial authorization cannot be obtained with reasonable diligence,

The police officer has reasonable grounds that the interception is necessary to prevent an unlawful act that would cause serious harm to any person or property, and

Either the person sending the communication or the person intended to receive the communication is the person who would perform the unlawful act in question, or is the victim or intended victim of the harm.

Incident

After family members received phone calls from an alleged kidnapping victim, where the victim stated he was being held for ransom, the police initiated an emergency wiretap under section 184.4. Approximately 24 hours later, they received judicial authorization for the wiretap.

Judicial history

As a result of the wiretap evidence, Yat Fung Albert Tse, Nhan Trong Ly, Viet Bac Nguyen, Huong Dac Doan, Daniel Luis Soux and Myles Alexander Vandrick were charged with various offences related to the kidnapping.