Is an independent statement privileged in the context of solicitor-and-client privilege?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Blackburn v. Watson, 1997 CanLII 2054 (BC SC):
In Steeves v. Rapanos the court concluded that independent witness statements fall "more within the realm of public policy concerning the inviolability of a lawyer's file than it does within the rule of solicitor-and-client privilege" (page 72). Mr. Justice Bouck, in that decision, went on to say at page 74 that "when it comes to deciding if the statement of an ordinary witness is privileged, the burden of proof should be on the party demanding its discovery rather than on the party resisting".
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