The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that lawyers may access their clients’ privileged communications under an “innocence at stake” exception to defend against criminal charges. In a 7-2 decision, the court found that while solicitor-client privilege is nearly absolute, it can yield in rare circumstances, as seen in the case of Regina lawyer Sharon Fox, who faced obstruction charges after a wiretap recorded her conversations with a client. The court held that previous rulings wrongly denied Fox the right to access privileged information for her defense. Additionally, the Crown conceded that the civilian monitor breached the wiretap authorization, violating Fox’s rights under the Charter.
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