Committee of inquiry led by Prof. Trudo Lemmens calls for stricter standards regarding seizure of research records

A committee of inquiry chaired by Prof. Trudo Lemmens has released its report regarding an incident in which Ottawa institutions seized the records of a pair of academic researchers, concluding that the seizure was unjustified. “The seizure of research records is a serious measure that can be justified in extreme circumstances only, where no other reasonable options are available,” the Committee states in its report. The report also calls for greater clarity about the issue of informed consent in research.

The committee was commissioned by the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) but operated entirely independently.

• Read an Ottawa Citizen article about the report
• Read the CAUT press release about the report
• Read the report : Report of the Independent Committee of Inquiry into the University of Ottawa, the Institute for Mental Health Research and the Royal Ottawa Hospital (PDF)