Why Access Canadian Provincial Court Records

by Steven Brownstein

The records or files kept by the court in regard to particular cases are generally accessible or can be viewed by the public and media. However, there are exceptions (sealed cases,etc.).

How does this differ from the USA? Not at all. It is the terminology that causes questions i.e., The difference between a court record and a police record.

CPIC is a police record. They do not represent a true history without a fingerprint card. Courts are, well, a court record. It is also important to keep in mind that in Canada (as well as the USA) the court record is not the criminal record of the person. The definition by large in Canada and the rest of the world of a criminal record is those kept by the police (rap sheet).

So why do we use the courts in America? Because we get a complete and up to date (FCRA) picture of a persons' criminal court history which is what we really want (since most arrest records cannot be used in the USA without court dispositions anyway).

(Editors Note:)

This article assumes that CPIC information will sometime become available again from the RCMP.

Until then, we have no other choice than to use the courts.

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