Northwest Territories

In the Northwest Territories, disclosure in Criminal Code and other federal prosecutions is managed by the Northwest Territories Regional Office of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, which also conducts most territorial prosecutions. Police provide investigative material to federal Crown prosecutors, who review it and provide relevant disclosure to the accused or defence counsel.

Under R. v. Stinchcombe, prosecutors must disclose relevant information within the prosecution’s possession or control, whether it supports the prosecution or assists the defence, except privileged or legally protected material. This obligation continues throughout the prosecution. Under R. v. McNeil, police must notify prosecutors of serious misconduct involving officers where it relates to the investigation or could affect credibility or reliability. Prosecutors decide what must be disclosed; the defence is not automatically entitled to an officer’s complete employment or disciplinary history.

Disclosure is ordinarily requested from the PPSC office handling the charge rather than directly from the RCMP or another investigating agency. A different process may apply to the limited territorial matters prosecuted by the Government of the Northwest Territories.

This information has been curated by journalists and private citizens; and, this platform-as-a-service is available to all Courts, Government Agencies, Judicial Councils, Law Enforcement Organizations, Law Societies, Police Oversight Agencies, Prosecutors' Offices, and Public-Sector Integrity Offices.