Recent decision of Supreme Court of Canada in R v Marakah upholds right to challenge admissibility of text messages sent to a third party

The Supreme Court of Canada recently released its decision in R v Marakah upholding the right of Mr. Marakah to challenge the admissibility of text messages which he sent to a third party and which were unlawfully obtained by police from the third party’s cellphone. The Court held that Mr. Marakah retained a reasonable expectation of privacy in the text messages even after they had been received by the third party. The Supreme Court excluded all the evidence against Mr. Marakah and substituted an acquittal on appeal. The firm’s senior partner Mark Sandler and associate Wayne Cunningham acted for Mr. Marakah on this precedent setting Charter decision