About this Project:

The Secret Law Gazette was a project run by Craig Forcese, Professor of Law, University of Ottawa until about 2018. The Secret Law Gazette published "secret laws" in the area of national security in Canada. "Secret laws" include ministerial directives, memoranda of understanding, and internal policies and procedures which affect and govern the conduct of Canada's security agencies, but are excluded from the regular publication requirements for Canadian law.

I occasionally departed from "secret laws" and post other documents relevant to national security law that, while public, are difficult to find unless you know where to look.

About the Documents:

The documents archived here are versions of these instruments released through legal process -- either through access to information requests or court proceedings. The Secret Law Gazette is not a whistleblower site. I did not post materials that have been leaked or otherwise released through unofficial means.

How Secret Law Gazette is Organized:

I assembled documents into "collections", mostly by category of instrument. Ialso prepared occasional "exhibits" that categorize documents by subject matter and occasionally provide more description and analysis. These usually are outgrowths of other research projects on which I have worked. In those cases, I have provided links to academic and other articles that rely on the documents in the curated exhibits.

Document descriptions can also be keyword searched (note that best results come by selecting "boolean" search in the pull down menu at the top right of the webpage).

NB: Documents may not open properly on mobile devices (because of the pdf plugin this site uses). For best results, use a computer.

Caveat:

This project reflected a commitment to transparency and the rule of law. It was a private intiative that I conduct in my spare time, and in support of my academic research projects. It is not intended as a complete or up to date repository.