Open AccessCome on Mann Don’t Search Me! A Case Comment on R. v. C.J.F.
Author(s) -
M. A. Johnston
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
alberta law review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1925-8356
pISSN - 0002-4821
DOI - 10.29173/alr328
Subject(s) - officer , supreme court , law , power (physics) , warrant , political science , state (computer science) , criminal procedure , economic justice , search and seizure , probable cause , criminology , sociology , business , computer science , physics , finance , algorithm , quantum mechanics
In Mann the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed that the police have the power to detainindividuals, albeit briefly, for investigative purposes. The Court also supplemented thispower with the power to conduct protective searches incident to these investigativedetentions (PSIIDs). While the Court made it clear that the power to conduct these searcheswas not incident to every investigative detention, this power should, nevertheless, beregarded dubiously. The conditions required to conduct a PSIID are lower than thoserequired for a peace officer to make an arrest without a warrant under s. 495 of the CriminalCode for violations of ss. 884 or 905 of the Code. Allowing the police to wield both of theseweapons against “crime” augments police power to engage in warrantless searches, andconcomitantly decreases individual rights. The recent decision of the Saskatchewan Provincial Court, Youth Justice Court, in C.J.F.,illustrates the corrosive effect that Mann and its PSIIDs can have “on the right of individualsto walk the streets free from state interference.” C.J.F. challenges us to ensure that Mannis being properly applied, but it also challenges us to understand the effect of having PSIIDs.