What is disclosure of the evidence and how do I get it?
Short answer
Disclosure is the prosecution's obligation to give the accused person all the relevant evidence gathered by the police and the prosecutor, including evidence that will not be used at trial. In Quebec, it is generally handed over at the first appearance.
In detail
A disclosure package includes, among other things, witness statements, police reports, photographs and video or audio recordings. The obligation covers relevant evidence, whether it tends to show guilt or innocence, and whether or not it will be used at trial.
Disclosure can be provided before, during or after the first appearance. If you are represented, it goes to your lawyer. If you are representing yourself, it is given directly to you.
It is this disclosure that lets you decide on a plea with full knowledge of the case. It is also why the court often puts the matter over: it takes time to read the evidence.
Incomplete or late disclosure can be raised by way of an application to the court. But you still have to be able to show what is missing and how long you have been asking for it.
What to document
Keep a dated log of every disclosure request, every package received and what it contained (number of pages, list of items). Note what is missing and since when you have been asking for it. Keep the emails and the acknowledgments of receipt: that record is what counts if the question of delay comes up.
Put your facts in writing, free. Writing your version down early, keeping your documents dated and preparing your questions for a lawyer: the tool is there to document, never to advise.
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Official sources
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What this page is not
This is general legal information about the law of Quebec and Canada, dated and sourced. It is not legal advice, not a strategy, and not a prediction about the outcome of a case. In Quebec, only lawyers and notaries may give legal advice (Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, ss. 128 and 133). Laws and amounts change: the official source always prevails over us.