Act not applying to records requested for criminal or civil proceedings after commencement of proceedings
(1) This Act does not apply to a record of a public body or a private body if— (a) that record is requested for the purpose of criminal or civil proceedings; (b) so requested after the commencement of such criminal or civil proceedings, as the case may be; and (c) the production of or access to that record for the purpose referred to in paragraph (a) is provided for in any other law.
(2) Any record obtained in a manner that contravenes subsection (1) is not admissible as evidence in the criminal or civil proceedings referred to in that subsection unless the exclusion of such record by the court in question would, in its opinion, be detrimental to the interests of justice.
What this means in practice
- Once litigation has started, PAIA steps aside for records sought for those proceedings where another law (e.g. discovery) already provides for their production — you can't use PAIA to sidestep the rules of court.
- Records obtained in breach of this are generally inadmissible in the proceedings.
PopiGuard helps you tell a genuine PAIA request from a litigation record that belongs in discovery.