In Canada, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects you from arbitrary detention. That means police can’t just stop you for no reason and force you to answer questions.
But knowing when they can, and cannot stop you; when you do and do not have to respond to officer inquiries is very important for avoiding legal jeopardy.
When Can An Officer Legally Stop You?
Law enforcement must have a reasonable suspicion that you are involved in a crime in order to justify a a temporary detention.
Without at least reasonable suspicion, the Officer`s detention is arbitrary and therefore violates Sec. 9 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Note: This does not apply to traffic stops. No reasonable suspicion is required to stop you while driving and ask for your license, registration and insurance
What is Reasonable Suspicion
- Reasonable suspicion is something more than a mere hunch, or intuition.
- It must be based on an Articulable fact.
- It is much less than full proof of crime.
Also, the reasonable suspicion must be a suspicion in relation to a specific offence, not just a suspicion of general no good.
Reasonable suspicion provides limited authorization for the officer to perform an Investigative detention.
In a investigative detention an officer may
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briefly require you to remain in a place to allow the investigation;
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ask you investigative questions related to the offence for which they have a reasonable suspicion;
- You are not required to answer these questions.
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ask for ID
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You are not required to provide identification, UNLESS some other law requires it. For example, you are required to provide a drivers license during a traffic stop.
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DO NOT PROVIDE A FAKE ID OR NAME. Although, you are not required to provide your name or identification in most cases, if you provide a fake name you may be guilty of obstruction of justice. This can provide grounds for an arrest and charge.
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They can perform a pat down search. This is for the purpose of officer safety and not evidence gathering. If they feel an item that could possibly pose a threat to the officer they may remove it. They cannot simply take anything they feel out of your pockets.
For example, if they feel what may be some pills in your pocket, whatever the object is, it isn`t a weapon or something that may harm them. Therefore, they cannot go into your pocket to see what it is.
They cannot, without further grounds, do the following;
- Search your backpack, phone, purse or perform any evidence based search.
- Arrest you based on your silence
- Prolong the detention unnecessarily.
No matter what happens, you should maintain silence and innocence until you have time to speak to a lawyer. Further, ask officers periodically, if you are being arrested. This makes it easier for your lawyer to pin down at what point investigative detention stops and arrest begins.