The BC Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner issued its report on the checking of jury members by ICBC in the run-up to a civil trial earlier this year.

In April, ICBC advised a trial judge that an ICBC adjuster had provided personal information about the trial’s jurors to the external defence counsel retained by ICBC for the trial. Soon after learning of the incident, Commissioner David Loukidelis announced that, having been asked by the Solicitor General to investigate the incident, he would look into the matter and report publicly.

Five other similar incidents of jury checking were identified in the ICBC jury trials that could be identified since 2000. The recent report discloses that, although ICBC had policies in place at the time to prohibit jury checking, those policies had not prevented these incidents.

The Commissioner therefore recommended that ICBC should focus on more specific training for claims adjusters and better communication and awareness of ICBC’s privacy policies for external defence counsel.

ICBC said that it does not condone the practice of jury checking.

The Commissioner noted that his office will follow up on ICBC’s progress in implementing the report’s recommendations, to ensure they are rolled out quickly across the corporation.