In Ontario, disclosure in most provincial criminal prosecutions is managed by Crown Attorneys in the Ministry of the Attorney General’s Criminal Law Division. Police provide investigative material to the prosecutor, who reviews it and provides relevant disclosure to the accused or defence counsel.
Under R. v. Stinchcombe, prosecutors must disclose relevant information within the Crown’s possession or control, whether it supports the prosecution or assists the defence, except privileged or legally protected material. This obligation continues throughout and after the trial and appeal process. Under R. v. McNeil, police must provide serious officer-misconduct information that relates to the investigation or could affect credibility or reliability. Prosecutors must make reasonable inquiries when they believe another police or government body may hold relevant material.
Disclosure is ordinarily requested from the Crown Attorney’s office handling the charge rather than directly from police. Federal prosecutions follow the procedures of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.
