Privacy in Peril: A Lack of Clarity from the Courts - Seth Lozinski
In analysing searches incident to arrest, the courts must balance public safety interests against the privacy interests of the accused. This is a contextual analysis, and many factors come into play in a court’s decision-making process. This contextual approach could prove to be beneficial or detrimental for an accused, depending on the circumstances. The fact that there isn’t a clear standard being upheld means that it is very difficult to consistently determine a breach of
R. v. Stairs and our Imperiled Privacy - Matt Reimer
It has been a bumpy road for individual privacy rights in recent years. Ever since Hunter v. Southam [“Hunter”], intrusive law-enforcement actions have been justified by the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) in many unforeseen circumstances. Dr. Richard Jochelson and Professor David Ireland’s book, Privacy in Peril, covers those relevant cases.
Exigent Circumstances: The Demand for Fiercer Protection of Privacy Interests - Brittney Macht
Privacy and Peril: Hunter v Southam and the Drift from Reasonable Search Protections (“Privacy in Peril”) provides readers a thorough understanding of how integral the case of Hunter v Southam is in establishing a base line of the scope of s 8 search and seizure rights, and more specifically, the thresholds that need to be passed to justify searches and seizures of such. As the Court noted here, warrantless searches are presumptively unreasonable.
Modifications to the Standard for Warrantless Searches Incident to Arrest - Anonymous
A decision coming from the Supreme Court of Canada decided just last week, R. v. Stairs, 2022 SCC 11, has had the effect of modifying the previous standard required of police officers when they conduct searches incident to arrest.The majority of the SCC reiterates that the common law standard for searches incident to arrest continues to apply in situations where the police are searching an area of the home that is within the arrested individual’s physical control.
Howling for Justice: Evaluating Police Searches and the Sniffer-Dog in Canada - Robert Johnstone
Matters of personal privacy are heavily impacted through proceedings detailing the continual struggle between efficient law enforcement and constitutional guarantees provided to the individual. Specifically, s. 8 of the Charter recognizes that the Canadian public requires protection from government intrusion to the degree that it encroaches on the individual’s “reasonable expectation of privacy.”
