FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER 20, 2001

OTTAWA—In a successful challenge to the federal Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) Act, the Law Society of British Columbia, the Federation of Law Societies, and the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) today obtained a court injunction that protects the privacy and confidentiality rights of Canadians.

Appearing recently in the BC Supreme Court in Vancouver, the challengers argued that confidential information shared between clients and their lawyers should be exempt from the Act. The three legal organizations pointed out that the new law forces lawyers to report to the government what their clients say to them in confidence.

Madam Justice Marion Allan agreed, and today issued a temporary exemption from the legislation for confidential information shared by clients with lawyers. “While the government’s goal of deter-ring and prosecuting money laundering offences is laudatory,” Madam Justice Allan wrote, “the fundamental values of the Constitution must be protected.”

The Act’s regulations, the judge said, “authorize an unprecedented intrusion into the traditional solicitor-client relationship.” She issued an order declaring that legal counsel are exempt from the Act’s provisions that require lawyers to violate client confidentiality. The order will stay in effect until a court hears full arguments regarding whether lawyers should be permanently excluded from the Act’s Regulations.

The CBA is now urging the federal government to respect and apply this exemption nationwide. “Although this decision has been rendered in a BC Supreme Court, we look to Justice Minister Anne McLellan to respect the court’s serious concerns about this legislation as it applies to the entire legal profession,” says Mr. Carman Overholt, President of the CBA’s BC Branch.

"This legislation threatens the right of Canadians to independent representation by their lawyer,” Mr. Overholt adds. “Every Canadian needs to be able to trust that the information provided to their lawyer is privileged and confidential, and that their lawyer is working to protect their interests, not to spy and report on them on behalf of the government.”

The CBA has been critical of the money laundering bill for more than three years. Last August, the Federation of Law Societies joined the CBA in publicly calling for changes to the law to protect clients’ rights. The CBA intends to continue its intervention in the full hearing of this matter, in its ongoing effort to ensure that the constitutional rights of Canadians are protected from state interference.

The Law Society of British Columbia governs the practice of law in British Columbia. Some 9,300 lawyers practise law in BC. The Federation of Law Societies of Canada represents Canada’s 13 law societies, the bodies authorized by provincial and territorial statutes to protect the public interest and govern the legal profession.

The Canadian Bar Association is dedicated to improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 37,000 lawyers, Quebec notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada are members.

Contact:
Hannah Bernstein
Canadian Bar Association
902 - 50 O'Connor
Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 6L2
T: 613.237.2925 x146
hannahb@cba.org
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