Supreme Court Judgments

SUPREME COURT OF CANADA

Solosky v. The Queen, [1980] 1 S.C.R. 821

Date: 1979-12-21

William (Billy) Solosky (Plaintiff) Appellant;

and

Her Majesty The Queen (Defendant) Respondent.

1979: June 13; 1979: December 21.

Present: Laskin C.J. and Martland, Ritchie, Pigeon, Dickson, Beetz, Estey, Pratte and McIntyre JJ.

ON APPEAL FROM THE FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL

Prisons Censorship of prisoners' mail — Right of prison inmates to communicate in confidence with their solicitors — Solicitor-client privilege — Inmate failing to establish entitlement to a declaration — Penitentiary Service Regulations, SOR/62-90 — Canadian Bill of Rights, 1960(Can.), c. 44, ss. 1(b), (d), 2(c)(ii).

The appellant, imprisoned at Millhaven Institution, commenced an action in the Federal Court of Canada for a declaration that "properly identified items of correspondence directed to and received from his solicitor shall henceforth be regarded as privileged corre­spondence and shall be forwarded to their respective destinations unopened". The action was dismissed and on appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal the pleadings were amended to request a declaration " ... that hence-forth all properly identified items of solicitor-client correspondence should be forwarded to their respective destinations unopened". The appeal failed, and at the opening of the appeal in this Court counsel for the appellant moved to substitute, for the prayer for relief in the statement of claim, a declaration that the order of the Director of Millhaven Institution that the appellant's mail be opened and read "insofar as it has been applied to mail originating from his solicitor David Cole, and to mail written by the Plaintiff to his solicitor David Cole, is not authorized by law".

In accordance with the Penitentiary Act, R.S.C. 1970, c. P-6, and Regulations thereunder, an institutional head of a penitentiary may order censorship of inmate corre­spondence to the extent considered necessary or desirable for the rehabilitation of the inmate or the security of the institution. The main ground upon which the appellant rested his case was solicitor-client privilege.

Held: The appeal should be dismissed.

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Contrary to the views expressed by the Court below, the important issues raised in this case should not be determined by the particular form of wording employed in the prayer for relief, or on the basis that the question is hypothetical.

There could be no doubt that there was a real, and not a hypothetical, dispute between the parties. The declaration sought was a direct and present challenge to the censorship order of the Director of Millhaven Institute. That order, so long as it continues, from the past through the present and into the future, is in contro­versy. The fact that a declaration today cannot cure past ills, or may affect future rights, cannot of itself, deprive 'the remedy of its potential utility in resolving the dispute over the Director's continuing order. Once one accepts that the dispute is real and that the granting of judg­ment is discretionary, then the only further issue is whether the declaration is capable of having any practi­cal effect in resolving the issues in the case. The deter­mination of the right of prison inmates to correspond, freely and in confidence with their solicitors, is of great practical importance, although, admittedly, any such determination relates to correspondence not yet written. However poorly framed the prayer for relief may be, even as twice amended, the present claim was clearly directed to the procedures for handling prison mail and the invocation in relation thereto of solicitor-client privilege.

Recent case law has taken the traditional doctrine of solicitor-client privilege and placed it on a new plane. Privilege is no longer regarded merely as a rule of evidence which acts as a shield to prevent privileged materials from being tendered in evidence in a court room. The courts, unwilling to so restrict the concept, have extended its application well beyond those limits. However, while there is no question that the Canadian courts have been moving towards a broader concept of solicitor-client privilege, the concept has not been stretched far enough to save the appellant's case. Although there has been a move away from treating solicitor-client privilege as a rule of evidence that can only be asserted at the time the privileged material is sought to be introduced as evidence, the move from rigid temporal restrictions has not gone as far as the appellant contends. The appellant's suggestion that privilege has come to be recognized as a "fundamental principle", more properly characterized as a "rule of property", was not accepted. Without the evidentiary connection, which the law now requires, the privilege cannot be invoked.

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The statutory disciplinary régime, described in this case, does not derogate from the common law doctrine of solicitor and client privilege, as presently conceived, but the appellant was seeking in this appeal something well beyond the limits of the privilege, even as amplified in modern cases.

In aid of his main submission, appellant argued faintly that the Penitentiary Service Regulations and Com­missioner's Directive should not be construed and applied so as to abrogate, abridge, or infringe any of the rights or freedom recognized in the Canadian Bill of Rights by s. 1(b) (the right of the individual to equality before the law and the protection of the law), 1(d) (freedom of speech) and 2(c)(ii) (the right of a person arrested or detained to retain and instruct counsel without delay). This argument also failed.

One could depart from the current concept of privilege and approach the case on the broader basis that (i) the right to communicate in confidence with one's legal adviser is a fundamental civil and legal right, founded upon the unique relationship of solicitor and client, and (ii) a person confined to prison retains all of his civil rights, other than those expressly or impliedly taken from him by law. In that context, the Court was faced with the interpretation of the Penitentiary Service Regulations and Commissioner's Directive No. 219.

It was submitted there are three alternative interpre­tations of the scope of Regulations 2.17 and 2.18 which may govern the extent of the authority of the institutional head in dealing with an envelope which appears to have originated from a solicitor, or to be addressed to a solicitor, in circumstances where the institutional head has reason to believe that the unrestricted and unexam­ined passage of mail to or from the particular inmate in question represents a danger to the safety and security of the institution. The third such interpretation was as follows: "he may order that the envelope be subject to opening and examination to the minimum extent neces­sary to establish whether it is properly the subject of solicitor-client privilege". This alternative represents that interpretation of the scope of the Regulations which permits to an inmate the maximum opportunity to com­municate with his solicitor through the mails that is consistent with the requirement to maintain the safety and security of the institution.

The "minimum extent necessary to establish whether it is properly the subject of solicitor-client privilege" should be interpreted in such manner that (i) the contents of an envelope may be inspected for contraband;

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(ii) in limited circumstances, the communication may be read to ensure that it, in fact, contains a confidential communication between solicitor and client written for the purpose of seeking or giving legal advice; (iii) the letter should only be read if there are reasonable and probable grounds for believing the contrary, and then only to the extent necessary to determine the bona fides of the communication; (iv) the authorized penitentiary official who examines the envelope, upon ascertaining that the envelope contains nothing in breach of security, is under a duty at law to maintain the confidentiality of the communication.

Per Estey J.: As to the above item (iii) in the catalogue of considerations in the interpretation of the expression "minimum extent necessary to establish whether it is properly the subject of solicitor-client privilege", any procedure adopted with reference to the scrutiny of letters passing from solicitor to client should, wherever reasonably possible, recognize the solicitor-client privilege long established in the law.

[Mellstrom v. Garner, [1970] 1 W.L.R. 603, distin­guished; Russian Commercial and Industrial Bank v. British Bank for Foreign Trade Ltd., [1921] 2 A.C. 438; Pyx Granite Co. v. Ministry of Housing and Local Government, [1958] 1 Q.B. 554; Pharmaceutical Socie­ty of Great Britain v. Dickson, [1970] A.C. 403; Re Director of Investigation and Research and Shell Canada Ltd. (1975), 22 C.C.C. (2d) 70; Greenough v. Gaskell (1833), 39 E.R. 618; Anderson v. Bank of British Columbia (1876), 2 Ch. 644; Re Director of Investigation and Research and Canada Safeway Ltd. (1972), 26 D.L.R. (3d) 745; Re Presswood et al. and International Chemalloy Corp. (1975), 65 D.L.R. (3d) 228; Re Borden and Elliot and The Queen (1975), 30 C.C.C. (2d) 337; Re BX Development Inc. and The Queen (1976), 31 C.C.C. (2d) 14; Re B and The Queen (1977), 36 C.C.C. (2d) 235, referred to.]

APPEAL from a judgment of the Federal Court of Appeal[1], dismissing an appeal from a judgment of Addy J. who dismissed the appellant's application for a declaration. Appeal dismissed.

Ronald Price, Q.C., and David P. Cole, for the appellant.

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E. Bowie and J.—Paul Malette, for the respondent.

The judgment of Laskin C.J. and Martland, Ritchie, Pigeon, Dickson, Beetz, Pratte and McIn­tyre JJ. was delivered by

DICKSON J.—This case concerns the censorship of prisoners' mail and the right of an inmate of a federal penitentiary to communicate in confidence with his solicitor. The appellant, imprisoned at Millhaven Institution, commenced an action in the Federal Court for a declaration that "properly identified items of correspondence directed to and received from his solicitor shall henceforth be regarded as privileged correspondence and shall be forwarded to their respective destinations uno­pened".

I

Prison Disciplinary Regime

The penitentiary authorities rely upon the following statutes and Regulations as authorizing restrictions upon the personal correspondence of prison inmates. Section 660(1) of the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1970, c. C-34, provides that a sen­tence of imprisonment shall be served in accordance with the enactments and rules that govern the institution to which the prisoner is sentenced. Sec­tion 29(1) of the Penitentiary Act, R.S.C. 1970, c. P-6, empowers the Governor in Council to make regulations for the custody, treatment, training, employment, and discipline of inmates, and, gener­ally, for carrying into effect the purposes and provisions of the Penitentiary Act. Section 29(3) authorizes the Commissioner of Penitentiaries to make rules, known as Commissioner's directives, for the custody, treatment, training, employment, and discipline of inmates, and the good government of penitentiaries.

Pursuant to the foregoing, Penitentiary Service Regulations SOR/62-90, were passed, which pro-vide in part, as follows:

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Institutional Heads

1.12(1) The institutional head is responsible for the direction of his staff, the organization, safety and security of his institution and the correctional training of all inmates confined therein.

Visiting and Correspondence

2.17 The visiting and correspondence privileges that may, in accordance with directives, be permit­ted to inmates shall be such as are, in all the circumstances, calculated to assist in the refor­mation and rehabilitation of the inmate.

Censorship

2.18 In so far as practicable the censorship of corre­spondence shall be avoided and the privacy of visits shall be maintained, but nothing herein shall be deemed to limit the authority of the Commissioner to direct or the institutional head to order censorship of correspondence or supervision of visiting to the extent considered necessary or desirable for the reformation and rehabilitation of inmates or the security of the institution.

It will be observed then that the Regulations, the validity of which are not challenged by the appellant, expressly recognize the authority of the institutional head of a penitentiary to order censorship of inmate correspondence to the extent con­sidered necessary or desirable for the security of the institution. These Regulations are implemented by Commissioner's Directive No. 219 (as amended following the date of issuance of the statement of claim in these proceedings, but prior to the date of trial). The following paragraphs are pertinent to the present inquiry:

Directive

5. a. Penitentiary staff shall promote and facilitate correspondence between inmates and their families, friends, and other individuals and agencies who can be expected to make a contribution to the inmate's rehabilitation within the institution and to assist in his subsequent and eventual return to the community.

c. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 14 every inmate shall be permitted to correspond with any

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person, and shall be responsible for the contents of every article of correspondence of which he is the author. There shall be no restriction to the number of letters sent or received by inmates, unless it is evident that there is mass production.

Paragraph 5 d. makes provision for inspection for contraband, in these terms:

d. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 8, every item of correspondence to or from an inmate may be opened by institutional authorities for inspec­tion for contraband.

Censorship, dealt with in para. 7, is defined as any examination (other than for the express purpose of searching for contraband) and includes the read­ing, reproducing, extracting, or withdrawing of inmate correspondence. Paragraph 7 b. makes the point that censorship in any form is to be avoided, but reserves to the Commissioner of Penitentiaries and to the Institutional Director the authority to censor for one of two purposes, the rehabilitation of the inmate, or the security of the institution. Paragraph 7 b. reads:

Censorship of correspondence in any form shall be avoided, but nothing herein shall be deemed to limit the authority of the Commissioner to direct, or the Institutional Director to order, censorship of correspondence in any form, to the extent considered necessary or desirable for the rehabilitation of the inmate or the security of the institution. (PSR 2.18). Any form of censorship shall be undertaken only with the approval of the Institutional Director.

The Directive seeks to maintain the confidentiality of the contents of correspondence. Paragraph 7 c. states that only authorized staff shall be allowed to read inmate mail, when necessary, and further provides that no comments, other than those required for official duties, shall be made to other members of the staff on the contents of the correspondence.

Paragraph 8 of Directive 219 speaks of "privileged correspondence", defined as "properly iden­tified and addressed items directed to and received from" any of a lengthy list of persons including, among others, members of the Senate, members of the House of Commons, members of provincial

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legislatures, and provincial ombudsmen. Conspic­uous is the absence of any reference to inmates' legal representatives. Privileged correspondence is forwarded to the addressee unopened with the proviso that in exceptional cases, where institutional staff suspect contraband in such privileged correspondence, the Commissioner's approval shall be obtained before it is opened. Paragraph 8 clearly countenances the maintenance of uncensored channels of mail for complaints and grievances. But the restricted listing of destinations assures that the channels through which grievances pass are limited to internal procedures (Solicitor Gener­al, Commissioner of Penitentiaries, Correctional Investigator) or political outlets (Members of Par­liament and Senators). Lawyers are mentioned in paragraph 10 c. of Directive No. 219, "Use of Telephone and Telegraph", which reads:

c. In urgent cases where lawyers call their inmate clients, and wish to communicate privately with them, the institutional authorities shall ask the lawyer to leave his name and telephone number and, following verification of the lawyer's identity, a call shall originate from the institution.

For the purposes of trial, an agreed statement of facts was filed. Paragraphs 4 and 5 of the statement are in the following terms:

4. Pursuant to section 6 paragraph (b) [s. 7(b), as amended,] of Directive No. 219, John Dowsett, Director of Millhaven Institution has ordered that William (Billy) Solosky's mail be opened and read. This order has been applied to mail originating from his solicitor David Cole.

5. William (Billy) Solosky's mail is being read because it is John Dowsett's opinion that William (Billy) Solosky's conduct, activities and attitude cause him to believe that attention should be paid to his incoming and outgoing correspondence. Those letters which are deemed to be significant with respect to the security of the institution are being brought to the attention of John Dowsett.

Paragraph 5 of the statement of defence clarifies any obscurity in para. 5 of the agreed statement of facts. The statement of defence reads "The secu­rity of the Millhaven Institution has required that the Plaintiff's mail be opened."

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II

Judicial History

Mr. Justice Addy, at trial, was of the view that solicitor and client privilege, upon which the appellant founds his case, can only be claimed document by document and that each document is privileged only to the extent it meets the criteria which would support the privilege. Whether a letter does, in fact, contain a privileged communication cannot be determined until it has been opened and read. There is no logical nor legal justification for per­mitting correspondence which appears to have emanated from, or to be addressed to, a solicitor to enjoy any special aura of protection. Mr. Justice Addy relied upon these propositions in dismissing the appellant's action, with costs. He buttressed his conclusion by the argument that in this situa­tion it would be too easy for a person to obtain envelopes and letterheads bearing the name and title of a real or fictitious solicitor, and equally as easy for a prisoner to camouflage the true identity of an addressee.

The appellant appealed to the Federal Court of Appeal. In that Court, his counsel amended the pleadings to request a declaration " ... that hence-forth all properly identified items of solicitor-client correspondence should be forwarded to their respective destinations unopened". The revised form of declaration differs little from that appear­ing in the amended statement of claim. Both are defective, at least to this extent—it is not every item of correspondence passing between solicitor and client to which privilege attaches, for only those in which the client seeks the advice of counsel in his professional capacity, or in which counsel gives advice, are protected. That a privilege may not encompass all solicitor and client communica­tions is clearly illustrated by the correspondence exhibited in the present case. Some of the letters concerned the appellant's parole review. Others merely contained criticism of the administration, information about other inmates, and prison gossip. One letter enclosed a second letter with the request that the second letter be forwarded to a named magazine for publication.

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The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, holding that a declaration that all corre­spondence between the appellant and his solicitor be declared privileged would extend considerably the ambit of the solicitor-client privilege as it is generally known and understood. To grant the declaration sought would be to give to the appel­lant an extension of the privilege afforded to the ordinary citizen. As a second ground for rejecting the appeal, the Court held that by issuing an order relating to correspondence not yet written, the court would be granting relief on the basis of purely hypothetical issues, and in futuro. Assum­ing jurisdiction, the case was not one where jurisdiction should be asserted.

III

Declaratory Relief

At the opening of the appeal in this Court, counsel for the appellant moved to substitute, for the prayer for relief in the statement of claim, a declaration that the order of the Director of Millhaven Institution that the appellant's mail be opened and read "insofar as it has been applied to mail originating from his solicitor David Cole, and to mail written by the Plaintiff to his solicitor David Cole, is not authorized by law". The amended form of prayer seems to have been conceived with a view to meeting the point, taken by the Federal Court of Appeal, that the relief earlier sought would relate to letters not yet written.

With great respect for the views expressed in the Federal Court of Appeal, I do not think that the important issues raised in these proceedings should be determined by the particular form of wording employed in the prayer for relief, or on the basis that the question is hypothetical.

Declaratory relief is a remedy neither constrained by form nor bounded by substantive content, which avails persons sharing a legal relationship, in respect of which a 'real issue' concerning the relative interests of each has been raised and falls to be determined.

The principles which guide the court in exercis­ing jurisdiction to grant declarations have been

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stated time and again. In the early case of Russian Commercial and Industrial Bank v. British Bank for Foreign Trade Ltd.[2], in which parties to a contract sought assistance in construing it, the Court affirmed that declarations can be granted where real, rather than fictitious or academic, issues are raised. Lord Dunedin set out this test (at p. 448):

The question must be a real and not a theoretical question, the person raising it must have a real interest to raise it, he must be able to secure a proper contradic­tor, that is to say, someone presently existing who has a true interest to oppose the declaration sought.

In Pyx Granite Co. Ltd. v. Ministry of Housing and Local Government[3], (rev'd [1960] A.C. 260, on other grounds), Lord Denning described the declaration in these general terms (p. 571):

.. if a substantial question exists which one person has a real interest to raise, and the other to oppose, then the court has a discretion to resolve it by a declaration, which it will exercise if there is good reason for so doing.

The jurisdiction of the court to grant declaratory relief was again stated, in the broadest language, in Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v. Dickson[4], a case in which the applicant sought a declaration that a proposed motion of the phar­maceutical society, if passed, would be ultra vires its objects and in unreasonable restraint of trade. In the course of his judgment, Lord Upjohn stated, at p. 433:

A person whose freedom of action is challenged can always come to the court to have his rights and position clarified, subject always, of course, to the right of the court in exercise of its judicial discretion to refuse relief in the circumstances of the case.

In the instant case, Mellstrom v. Garner[5], was cited in the Federal Court of Appeal in support of

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the proposition that courts will not grant declara­tions regarding the future. There, a chartered accountant and former partner of the defendant sought a declaration as to the true construction of the agreement by which the partnership had been dissolved. The plaintiff asked whether, having regard to a clause in the agreement, he would be in breach were he to solicit clients or business of the 'continuing partners'. Karminski L.J. held that declarations concerning the future ought to be approached with considerable reserve. Since nei­ther the plaintiff nor the defendants had broken the provisions of the clause in question, nor sought to do so, there was no useful purpose to be gained in granting the declaration. The application was dismissed. That is a very different case from the present one.

As Hudson suggests in his article, "Declaratory Judgments in Theoretical Cases: The Reality of the Dispute" (1977), 3 Dal.L.J. 706:

The declaratory action is discretionary and the two factors which will influence the court in the exercise of its discretion are the utility of the remedy, if granted, and whether, if it is granted, it will settle the questions at issue between the parties.

The first factor is directed to the "reality of the dispute". It is clear that a declaration will not normally be granted when the dispute is over and has become academic, or where the dispute has yet to arise and may not arise. As Hudson stresses, however, one must distinguish, on the one hand, between a declaration that concerns "future" rights and "hypothetical" rights, and, on the other hand, a declaration that may be "immediately available" when it determines the rights of the parties at the time of the decision together with the necessary implications and consequences of these rights, known as future rights. (p. 710)

Here there can be no doubt that there is a real and not a hypothetical, dispute between the parties. The declaration sought is a direct and present challenge to the censorship order of the Director of

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Millhaven Institute. That order, so long as it con­tinues, from the past through the present and into the future, is in controversy. The fact that a declaration today cannot cure past ills, or may affect future rights, cannot of itself, deprive the remedy of its potential utility in resolving the dispute over the Director's continuing order.

Once one accepts that the dispute is real and that the granting of judgment is discretionary, then the only further issue is whether the declara­tion is capable of having any practical effect in resolving the issues in the case.

The determination of the right of prison inmates to correspond, freely and in confidence with their solicitors, is of great practical importance, although, admittedly, any such determination relates to correspondence not yet written.

However poorly framed the prayer for relief may be, even as twice amended, the present claim is clearly directed to the procedures for handling prison mail and the invocation in relation thereto of solicitor-client privilege. It is not directed to the characterization of specific and individual items of correspondence. If the appellant is entitled to a declaration, it is within this Court's discretion to settle the wording of the declaration: see de Smith, Judicial Review of Administrative Action (3rd ed. 1973, p. 431). Further, s. 50 of the Supreme Court Act allows the Court to make amendments neces­sary to a determination of the "real issue", without application by the parties.

IV

Solicitor-Client Privilege

As I have indicated, the main ground upon which the appellant rests his case is solicitor-client privilege. The concept of privileged communica­tions between a solicitor and his client has long been recognized as fundamental to the due administration of justice. As Jackett C.J. aptly

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stated in Re Director of Investigation and Research and Shell Canada Ltd.[6], at pp. 78-9:

... the protection, civil and criminal, afforded to the individual by our law is dependent upon his having the aid and guidance of those skilled in the law untrammelled by any apprehension that the full and frank disclosure by him of all his facts and thoughts to his legal advisor might somehow become available to third persons so as to be used against him.

The history of the privilege can be traced to the reign of Elizabeth I (see Berd v. Lovelace[7] and Dennis v. Codrington[8]). It stemmed from respect for the 'oath and honour' of the lawyer, dutybound to guard closely the secrets of his client, and was restricted in operation to an exemption from testimonial compulsion. Thereafter, in stages, privi­lege was extended to include communications exchanged during other litigation, those made in contemplation of litigation, and finally, any consultation for legal advice, whether Iitigious or not. The classic statement of the policy grounding the privilege was given by Brougham L.C. in Greenough v. Gaskell[9], at p. 620:

The foundation of this rule is not difficult to discover. It is not (as has sometimes been said) on account of any particular importance which the law attributes to the business of legal professors, or any particular disposition to afford them protection (though certainly it may not be very easy to discover why a like privilege has been refused to others, and especially to medical advisers).

But it is out of regard to the interests of justice, which cannot be upholden, and to the administration of justice, which cannot go on without the aid of men skilled in jurisprudence, in the practice of the courts, and in those matters affecting rights and obligations which form the subject of all judicial proceedings. If the privilege did not exist at all, every one would be thrown upon his own legal resources. Deprived of all professional assistance, a man would not venture to consult any skilful person, or would only dare to tell his counsellor half his case.

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The rationale was put this way by Jessel M.R. in Anderson v. Bank of British Columbia[10], at p. 649:

The object and meaning of the rule is this: that as, by reason of the complexity and difficulty of our law, litigation can only be properly conducted by professional men, it is absolutely necessary that a man, in order to prosecute his rights or to defend himself from an improper claim, should have resource to the assistance of professional lawyers, and it being so absolutely neces­sary, it is equally necessary, to use a vulgar phrase, that he should be able to make a clean breast of it to the gentleman whom he consults with a view to the prosecu­tion of his claim, or the substantiating of his defence against the claim of others; that he should be able to place unrestricted and unbounded confidence in the professional agent, and that the communications he so makes to him should be kept secret, unless with his consent (for it is his privilege, and not the privilege of the confidential agent), that he should be enabled properly to conduct his litigation.

Wigmore [8 Wigmore, Evidence (McNaughton rev. 1961) para. 2292] framed the modern principle of privilege for solicitor-client communications, as follows:

Where legal advice of any kind is sought from a professional legal adviser in his capacity as such, the com­munications relating to the purpose made in confidence by the client are at his instance permanently protected from disclosures by himself or by the legal adviser, except the protection be waived.

There are exceptions to the privilege. The privilege does not apply to communications in which legal advice is neither sought nor offered, that is to say, where the lawyer is not contacted in his professional capacity. Also, where the communica­tion is not intended to be confidential, privilege will not attach, O'Shea v. Woods[11], at p. 289. More significantly, if a client seeks guidance from a lawyer in order to facilitate the commission of a crime or a fraud, the communication will not be privileged and it is immaterial whether the lawyer is an unwitting dupe or knowing participant. The classic case is R. v. Cox and Railton[12], in which Stephen J. had this to say (p. 167): "A communication

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in furtherance of a criminal purpose does not 'come in the ordinary scope of professional employment'."

Recent case law has taken the traditional doctrine of privilege and placed it on a new plane. Privilege is no longer regarded merely as a rule of evidence which acts as a shield to prevent privileged materials from being tendered in evidence in a court room. The courts, unwilling to so restrict the concept, have extended its application well beyond those limits. See Re Director of Investiga­tion and Research and Canada Safeway Ltd.[13]; Re Director of Investigation and Research and Shell Canada Ltd., supra; Re Presswood et al. and International Chemalloy Corp.[14]; Re Borden and Elliot and The Queen[15], (affirmed on other grounds[16]; Re BX Development Inc. and The Queen[17]; Re B and The Queen[18].

While there is no question that the Canadian courts have been moving towards a broader con­cept of solicitor-client privilege, I do not think the concept has been stretched far enough to save the appellant's case. Although there has been a move away from treating solicitor-client privilege as a rule of evidence that can only be asserted at the time the privileged material is sought to be intro­duced as evidence, the move from rigid temporal restrictions has not gone as far as the appellant contends. In the factum of the appellant, it is suggested that the privilege has come to be recog­nized as a "fundamental principle", more properly characterized as a "rule of property". The cases cited in support of this proposition, however, all involved search warrants that caught documents to which the privilege unquestionably attached. In those cases, such as Re Borden & Elliot and The Queen, supra, the search warrant led to the seizure of documents believed "to afford evidence." If privilege were to attach to the documents, then such material could not afford evidence at trial and hence the evidentiary connection remained.

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The judgments can be rationalized as merely shift­ing the time at which the privilege can be asserted. As the comment by Kasting in (1978), 24 McGill L.J. 115, "Recent Developments in the Law of Solicitor-Client Privilege" suggests, the shift away from the strict rule-of-evidence-at-trial approach has taken place by logical extensions. Chassé, in his annotation at (1977), 36 C.R.N.S. 349, The Solicitor-Client Privilege and Search Warrants, asserts that the privilege is being looked upon "as more akin to a rule of property rather than merely as a rule of evidence" (p. 350), but the privilege, in my view, is not yet near a rule of property. That is what the privilege must become if the appellant is to succeed.

There is no suggestion in the materials in the case at bar that the authorities intend to employ the letters or extracts obtained therefrom as evi­dence in any proceeding of any kind. Much as one might well wish to analogize from the search warrant cases to the censorship order here impugned, as a form of blanket search warrant upon appellant's mail, the order cannot be charac­terized as being directed to obtaining or affording evidence in any proceeding. Without the evidenti­ary connection, which the law now requires, the appellant cannot invoke the privilege.

As Mr. Justice Addy notes, privilege can only be claimed document by document, with each docu­ment being required to meet the criteria for the privilege—(i) a communication between solicitor and client; (ii) which entails the seeking or giving of legal advice; and (iii) which is intended to be confidential by the parties. To make the decision as to whether the privilege attaches, the letters must be read by the judge, which requires, at a minimum, that the documents be under the jurisdiction of a court. Finally, the privilege is aimed at improper use or disclosure, and not at merely opening.

The complication in this case flows from the unique position of the inmate. His mail is opened

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and read, not with a view to its use in a proceed­ing, but by reason of the exigencies of institutional security. All of this occurs within prison walls and far from a court or quasi-judicial tribunal. It is difficult to see how the privilege can be engaged, unless one wishes totally to transform the privilege into a rule of property, bereft of an evidentiary basis.

In my view, the statutory disciplinary régime, which I have earlier described, does not derogate from the common law doctrine of solicitor and client privilege, as presently conceived, but the appellant is seeking in this appeal something well beyond the limits of the privilege, even as amplified in modern cases.

V

In aid of his main submission, resting upon privilege, counsel for the appellant argued faintly that the Penitentiary Service Regulations and Commissioner's Directive should not be construed and applied so as to abrogate, abridge, or infringe any of the rights or freedoms recognized in the Canadian Bill of Rights by s. 1(b) (the right of the individual to equality before the law and the pro­tection of the law), 1(d) (freedom of speech) and 2(c)(ii) (the right of a person arrested or detained to retain and instruct counsel without delay). The authorities relied upon by counsel were, in the main, breathalyzer cases dealing with the right of a motorist to communicate with his counsel in private and without delay. These, and other cases cited, give little assistance to the resolution of the issue now before the Court, due to the difference in factual context and relevant considerations. The question in this case is whether the appellant's right to retain and instruct counsel is incompatible with the right of prison authorities to prevent threat to the security of the institution. In my view, there is no such incompatibility provided the exercise of authority is not greater than is neces­sary to support the security interest. This, as I read it, is precisely the effect of para. 7b. of Directive 219.

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With respect to s. 1(b) of the Bill, it has been held by this Court that equality before the law does not require "that all federal statutes must apply to all individuals in the same manner. Legislation dealing with a particular class of people is valid if it is enacted for the purpose of achieving a valid federal objective": Martland J., giving the unanimous reasons of this Court in Prata v. Min­ister of Manpower and Immigration[19], at p. 382.

It is difficult to attack the validity of Peniten­tiary Service Regulation 2.18 or Directive 219 with a freedom of speech argument, having regard to the will of Parliament, as reflected in the Peni­tentiary Act and in the Penitentiary Service Regu­lations, which preserves a limited right of censorship by penitentiary authorities in the interests of security and, at the same time, affords inmates a right to communicate freely through uncensored channels with members of Parliament and provincial legislatures, and the many persons listed in para. 8 of Directive 219.

VI

One may depart from the current concept of privilege and approach the case on the broader basis that (i) the right to communicate in confi­dence with one's legal adviser is a fundamental civil and legal right, founded upon the unique relationship of solicitor and client, and (ii) a person confined to prison retains all of his civil rights, other than those expressly or impliedly taken from him by law.

In that context, the Court is faced with the interpretation of the Penitentiary Service Regula­tions and Commissioner's Directive No. 219. Sec­tion 2.18 of the Regulations, as earlier noted, undoubtedly reserves the authority of the institu­tional head to order censorship of correspondence to the extent considered necessary or desirable for the security of the institution. As a general rule, I do not think it is open to the courts to question the judgment of the institutional head as to what may, or may not, be necessary in order to maintain

[Page 840]

security within a penitentiary. On the other hand, it is to be noted that Penitentiary Service Regula­tion 2.18 and Commissioner's Directive No. 219 speak in general terms, in their reference to the reading of correspondence and to other forms of censorship, without express mention of solicitor-client correspondence. The right to privacy in solicitor-client correspondence has not been expressly taken away by the language of the Regulations and the Directive.

Most prisons are sufficiently remote that the mail constitutes the prime means of communica­tion to an inmate's solicitor. Nothing is more likely to have a "chilling" effect upon the frank and free exchange and disclosure of confidences, which should characterize the relationship between inmate and counsel, than knowledge that what has been written will be read by some third person, and perhaps used against the inmate at a later date. I do not understand counsel for the Crown to dispute the importance of these considerations.

The result, as I see it, is that the Court is placed in the position of having to balance the public interest in maintaining the safety and security of a penal institution, its staff and its inmates, with the interest represented by insulating the solicitor-client relationship. Even giving full recognition to the right of an inmate to correspond freely with his legal adviser, and the need for minimum deroga­tion therefrom, the scale must ultimately come down in favour of the public interest. But the interference must be no greater than is essential to the maintenance of security and the rehabilitation of the inmate.

The difficulty is in ensuring that the correspon­dence between the inmate and his solicitor, wheth­er within the doctrine of solicitor-client privilege or not, is not cloaking the passage of drugs, weapons, or escape plans. There must be some mechanism for verification of authenticity. That seems to be generally accepted. Yet, no one has so far suggested what third party mechanism might be adopted, or by what authority the courts could impose such a mechanism upon penitentiary authorities.

[Page 841]

Counsel for the Crown submits there are three alternative interpretations of the scope of Regulations 2.17 and 2.18 which may govern the extent of the authority of the institutional head in dealing with an envelope which appears to have originated from a solicitor, or to be addressed to a solicitor, in circumstances where the institutional head has reason to believe that the unrestricted and unex­amined passage of mail to or from the particular inmate in question represents a danger to the safety and security of the institution:

(a) he may nonetheless permit the letter to be delivered unopened and unexamined to the inmate;

(b) he may suspend the inmate's privilege to receive mail, in respect of that letter, pursuant to sections 2.17 and 2.18 of the Penitentiary Service Regulations.

(c) he may order that the envelope be subject to open­ing and examination to the minimum extent neces­sary to establish whether it is properly the subject of solicitor-client privilege.

Counsel contends that to interpret the Regulations as requiring the first of these alternatives is to leave the institutional head without the author­ity he requires to control the potential passage of contraband, or of correspondence which may endanger the safety of the institution, under the guise of confidential communications passing be­tween inmate and solicitor. I agree. I would also reject the second as providing no solution. I agree that the third alternative represents that interpre­tation of the scope of the Regulations which per­mits to an inmate the maximum opportunity to communicate with his solicitor through the mails that is consistent with the requirement to maintain the safety and security of the institution.

In my view, the "minimum extent necessary to establish whether it is properly the subject of solicitor-client privilege" should be interpreted in such manner that (i) the contents of an envelope may be inspected for contraband; (ii) in limited circumstances, the communication may be read to ensure that it, in fact, contains a confidential communication between solicitor and client written for the purpose of seeking or giving legal advice; (iii) the letter should only be read if there are reasonable and probable grounds for believing the contrary, and then only to the extent necessary

[Page 842]

to determine the bona fides of the communication; (iv) the authorized penitentiary official who exam­ines the envelope, upon ascertaining that the envelope contains nothing in breach of security, is under a duty at law to maintain the confidentiality of the communication. Paragraph 7c. of Directive 219 underlines this point.

The appellant has failed to establish entitlement to a declaration in any of the three forms he has advanced in these proceedings. The appeal must be dismissed. The respondent is entitled to costs in this Court.

The following are the reasons delivered by

ESTEY J.—I have had the opportunity of read­ing the reasons for judgment of my brother Dickson and I concur therein. I only wish to add to item (iii) in his catalogue of considerations in the interpretation of the expression "minimum extent necessary to establish whether it is properly the subject of solicitor-client privilege". Item (iii) reads as follows:

(iii) the letter only should be read if there are reasonable and probable grounds for believing the contrary, and then only to the extent necessary to confirm the bona fides of the communication;

In my respectful view, any procedure adopted with reference to the scrutiny of letters passing from solicitor to client should, wherever reasonably possible, recognize the solicitor-client privilege long established in the law. Any mechanics adopted for their examination should, subject only to special circumstances indicating an overriding necessity for intervention by the authorities, safeguard com­munications flowing under the protection of the privilege so as to ensure that the privilege is left in a practical, workable condition; for example, a covering letter from a solicitor forwarding a sealed communication which the solicitor states to be a communication of legal advice should ordinarily shield the enclosure from examination by the authorities. I would dispose of the appeal as proposed by Dickson J.

Appeal dismissed with costs.

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Solicitor for the plaintiff, appellant: David P. Cole, Toronto.

Solicitor for the defendant, respondent: Roger Tassé, Ottawa.