Ottawa restricts access to records
The federal government is going to restrict the access of defendants to the confidential counselling records of alleged sexual-assault victims. The move is in response to a Supreme Court of Canada ruling last year that defendants need only establish that the counselling records of physicians, priests and other counsellors are "likely to have relevance" for a judge to order them to be turned over to the defence (see McPhedran M. Physician-patient privilege: the legal assault continues. CMAJ 1996;154:1760-3).
Justice Minister Allan Rock told the Commons Justice Committee that new legislation would require the court to establish that the records are relevant, restrict access to records that are pertinent to the case and require a subpoena from a provincial court judge. Sexual-assault centres and rape counsellors welcomed the announcement; many had stopped keeping all but minimal records since the Supreme Court ruling. Physicians had also been concerned that patients could not be assured of confidentiality.
| CMAJ July 15, 1996 (vol 155, no 2) |
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