Across Canada, criminal disclosure is handled by the prosecution service responsible for the charge: a provincial or territorial prosecution service for most Criminal Code matters in the provinces, or the Public Prosecution Service of Canada for federal prosecutions and most prosecutions in the territories. Police and other investigators provide relevant investigative material to the prosecuting Crown, which reviews and discloses it to the accused or defence counsel.
Under R. v. Stinchcombe, the Crown must disclose relevant information within its possession or control, whether it supports the prosecution or assists the defence, except privileged or legally protected material. The obligation continues throughout the prosecution. Under R. v. McNeil, police must notify the Crown of serious misconduct involving officers where it relates to the investigation or could affect credibility or reliability. The Crown decides 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 prosecution office handling the charge rather than directly from police. The applicable office and procedure depend on the offence and the jurisdiction.
