Protocol for Handling of Notice of Action

Protocol made as between:

THE MILITARY POLICE COMPLAINTS COMMISSION

- and -

THE CANADIAN FORCES PROVOST MARSHAL

1. Definitions
   In this Protocol:
   1. “NOA document” means a Notice of Action produced by the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal (the CFPM) pursuant to s. 250.51 of the National Defence Act, as well as correspondence between the CFPM and the Military Police Complaints Commission (the MPCC) related to the Notice of Action prior to publication of the MPCC's Final Report;
   2. “redacted information” means information that the CFPM believes may not be disclosed to the public because it is privileged, designated, classified, sensitive and/or potentially injurious to the national interest.
2. Purpose
   Acknowledging that both the MPCC and the CFPM share a responsibility to protect privileged, designated, classified, sensitive and/or potentially injurious information to the national interest from disclosure, and also have an obligation to ensure to the greatest extent possible, that MPCC Public Interest Hearings and Public Interest Investigations are public proceedings, the parties hereto agree to the following Protocol intended to govern the handling of NOA documents in the context of MPCC Public Interest Hearings and Public Interest Investigations.
3. Redacted Information
   1. NOA documents will be written such that redacted information will be limited to circumstances where there is no other way to respond to the MPCC's Interim Report.
   2. Where a NOA document contains redacted information, the following procedures will apply:
      1. The CFPM will provide the MPCC with two versions of the NOA document:
         1. A redacted version for publication in conjunction with the MPCC's Final Report (the public version); and '
         2. A non-public version not for publication (the non-public version). The non-public version of the NOA document will be designated or classified, as legally required and contain as much of the information redacted from the public version as can legally be disclosed to the MPCC.
      2. The MPCC and the CFPM may enter into good faith discussions in order to resolve any issues arising from the redactions to the public version of a NOA document in order to facilitate the publication of a NOA document with sufficient information while protecting from disclosure information that is privileged, designated, classified, sensitive and/or potentially injurious to the national interest. The content of such discussions, but not the fact they have taken place, will be on a confidential and without prejudice basis.
      3. If information is redacted in the public version of a NOA document, the MPCC and the CFPM may follow any available legal processes to seek a determination as to the disclosure of any information redacted from the public version of the NOA document.
      4. The MPCC and the CFPM agree that any available legal processes referred to in 3.2(c) will be pursued without delay.
4. Publication
   1. The MPCC will not publish the public version of a Notice of Action prior to the release of its Final Report. Pending publication of the Final Report, the public version of a Notice of Action may be marked as “to be published only in conjunction with the Final Report.”
   2. The public version of a Notice of Action produced by the CFPM in response to an Interim Report will be published in its entirety as an Appendix to the MPCC's Final Report.
5. Public Document
   1. The MPCC and the CFPM agree that this protocol may be made public.

Original signed at Ottawa, Ontario this 20 day of July, 2015.

Date modified:

2015-07-31