A Nova Scotia woman says her trust in the justice system has been shattered after private court documents were mistakenly handed to a third party.
Amanda MacIntyre received a letter from Nova Scotia Family Court, apologizing for the error. But she says the apology may not be enough.
“It’s personal information. That’s not an accident in my eyes,” says MacIntyre.
MacIntyre says the letter indicated a third party had photocopied her files, which included proposed parenting schedules.
Family lawyer Debbie Conrad says such documents often state why a parent wants custody of their child.
“Certainly that would be private and confidential and you wouldn’t want that exposed,” says Conrad.
The court has apologized and says they are taking the error very seriously.
“Your privacy is important to use and I apologize for this unfortunate error,” said court administration supervisor Sarah Osborne in the letter. “We are currently reviewing our procedures to determine how this error occurred and taking steps to prevent it from happening again in the future.”
Tara Walsh, a spokesperson for the Nova Scotia Department of Justice, says what happened with the file was the result of human error and that such incidents are extremely rare.
“Communication has gone out to all staff again, just reminding them of the policy and of the importance of maintaining privacy at all times,” says Walsh.
Legal experts say court systems are usually very particular about handing over court documents, but MacIntyre says she has lost faith in the system.
“I’ve trusted them up to this point and now my trust is gone.”
She says she wants more than an apology and hopes the person responsible for the error will face consequences.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Sarah Plowman
