Facts
The Federal Court was seized of an appeal against a decision of the Court of coercive measures (CCM) which had authorized the lifting of seals on medical documents seized at the premises of a doctor who was being prosecuted. The doctor had requested that these documents be placed under seal, arguing that they contained confidential information about his patients.
The CCM had decided to lift the seals without first sorting through the documents, considering that the seriousness of the offenses being prosecuted justified the lifting of the seals. The doctor appealed against this decision, arguing that the CCM had violated his professional secrecy and that of his patients.
Considerations
The Federal Court considered that the CCM had violated the doctor's professional secrecy and that of his patients by lifting the seals without first sorting through the documents. The Court recalled that medical documents contain sensitive and confidential information about patients and that their disclosure could infringe on the confidentiality and privacy of the latter.
The Court also considered that the lifting of seals must be proportionate to the seriousness of the offenses being prosecuted and that the CCM must first sort through the documents to separate those that are relevant to the investigation from those that are not. The Court finally recalled that documents covered by professional secrecy may only be seized or used in the context of a criminal investigation if their use is strictly necessary for the pursuit of the investigation.
The Federal Court therefore annulled the CCM's decision and referred the case back to the CCM so that it could sort through the documents and…