Warrantless wiretaps ruled "unconstitutional" by Supreme Court of Canada
Hayley Cooper
4/13/2012
The BC Civil Liberties Association is applauding a ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada affected how police use wiretaps.
Today's ruling strike's down a law allowing officers to use wiretaps without a warrant, saying it's unconstitutional. Judges of Canada's top court are now giving parliament one year to re-write legislation.
Carmen Cheung with the BCCLA says the ruling should put the proper review mechanisms and oversight of wiretaps in place.
"The SCOC ruling today does permit that under very limited circumstances, wiretaps could be used without prior judicial authorization. They noted that individuals should be notified after these wiretaps had taken place, so they would know they had been wiretapped."
The ruling stems from a 2006 kidnapping in the Lower Mainland, where police started wiretapping the six accused, 24 hours before applying for a warrant.