Certain questions have been raised in the Senate Chamber about the Senate Ethics Officer accessing emails of senators in the course of conducting an inquiry.
The powers of the Senate Ethics Officer are set out in the Ethics and Conflict of Interest Code for Senators. The Code in subsection 48(4) provides that “in carrying out an inquiry, the Senate Ethics Officer has the power to send for persons, papers, and records.” This subsection creates a broad power to compel the production of documents, including emails.
When, in the course of an inquiry, the Senate Ethics Officer seeks emails from a senator or from others, whether directly or indirectly, he is simply exercising the power that is conferred on him under subsection 48(4).
Under the Code, the Senate Ethics Officer cannot comment on the progress and the substance of any individual inquiry as he is, like all participants in an inquiry, bound by confidentiality under subsection 48(8). Any person, including senators, participating in an inquiry are required to cooperate with the Senate Ethics Officer under subsections 48(7) and (8).
However, when the report for an inquiry is released, the report usually contains an overview of the investigative process employed in that inquiry.