Section 8: Search & Seizure
R. v. Plant, [1993] 3 S.C.R. 281
Police in Calgary received an anonymous tip that marijuana was being grown on a specific city block. As a result of this tip, a police officer accessed the electrical utility’s computer system and discovered that a particular house on the block was using more than four times as much electricity as its neighbours. Two officers then performed a warrantless perimeter search of the property and observed that the basement windows were covered with something opaque and a that a vent had been blocked using a plastic bag. Continue reading
Filed under Section 8: Search & Seizure
R. v. Simpson, 1993 CanLII 3379 (ON CA)
When a police officer witnessed two individuals leaving a suspected “crack house” in a vehicle, he followed them, pulling the vehicle over several blocks away. While questioning the occupants of the vehicle, he noticed a bulge in the passenger’s front pocket, and asked the passenger to remove the object which proved to be a bag of cocaine. Continue reading
R. v. Wong, [1990] 3 S.C.R. 36
The accused, Santiago Wong, was charged with maintaining an illegal gambling operation, based on surveillance footage from a camera placed in his hotel room by police without prior judicial authorization. The trial judge found this tactic to be an unreasonable infringement of Wong’s rights under Section 8 of the Charter; however, this conclusion was overturned by the Ontario Court of Appeal. Continue reading
Cloutier v. Langlois, 1990 1 S.C.R. 158
Pierre Cloutier, a Montreal lawyer, was stopped in his vehicle by two police officers who observed him committing a traffic infraction. Upon learning that Mr. Cloutier was subject to a Warrant of Committal in Municipal Court for unpaid traffic fines, the officers arrested him and performed a “frisk” search in public view before taking him into custody. Continue reading
Filed under Section 8: Search & Seizure
R. v. Collins, [1987] 1 S.C.R. 265
In this case, Canada’s highest court considered Section 8 of the Charter (which protects against unreasonable search and seizure) and wrestled with limits on the admissibility of evidence. Continue reading
Filed under Section 8: Search & Seizure
Hunter et al. v. Southam Inc., [1984] 2 S.C.R. 145
This was the first major case in which a piece of legislation was struck down as a result of the legal rights protected by the Charter. The Supreme Court of Canada found problems with a section of the Combines Investigation Act which granted prior authorization for warrantless searches by the Restrictive Trade Practices Commission. This legislation was challenged by Southam Inc., and ultimately struck down by the Supreme Court, in an early demonstration that Canada’s judiciary intended to take its new found Charter mandate seriously. Continue reading
Filed under Section 8: Search & Seizure