you need only verbally identify yourself - and - only when they tell you why.
HeyensLaw Tip:
POLICE FOLLOWING YOUR CAR? GET OUT!
Pull into the nearest parking space, park legally, and go into a store or restaurant. Police have the broadest powers to detain you while you are driving!
Great video of being hassled by police - and winning!
October 2011
Police Have the Right to:
1. Randomly run licence plate numbers through the squad car computer to learn: a) who owns the car and get a photo of the owner; b)
what driving offences or criminal offences the driver has been
charged with or convicted of; c)
any information the police have collected about the driver.
2. Randomly stop - and briefly detain - a vehicle and all occupants - without advising anyone of their Charter
rights. -
R. v. Orbanski (2005) Supreme Court of Canada;
R. v. Harris (2007) Court of Appeal of Ontario
3. Ask questions related to driving offences and observe the
conduct of all occupants for suspicious activity, the odour of
alcohol or marijuana, and search through the vehicle windows to seize contraband "in plain sight" R. v. Nolet, (2010) Supreme Court of Canada
You have the right to:
1. Not identify yourself to police unless you are driving or until you are told what offence police are investigating. - Charter of Rights and Freedoms section 10(a); R. v. Grafe (1987)
Supreme Court of Canada.;
R. v. Harris (2007) Court of
Appeal of Ontario
2.Verbally
identify yourself to police by providing your name and date of birth.
There is no obligation that Canadian citizens carry identification in
public unless they are driving. - R. v. Graham (2000) Superior Court of Justice
If you are stopped by police, this is what to say:
Officer:
1. Am I free to go?
2. I will tell you my name and birthdate when you tell me what crime you are investigating
3. I do not consent to any search of my person or property but I will not resist if you do.
4. I want to call my family and my lawyer immediately - and I know I am allowed more than one phone call to do so.
5. I do not want to tell you "my side of the story" or make a
statement. Anything I say to prove my innocence is not admissible in court BUT anything I say that shows knowledge or guilt is admissible in court.
Before court starts for
the day, the Crown Attorney, who is the lawyer for the police and the
victim, reads a summary or "synopsis" of the alleged
criminal conduct by the accused. They also read a copy of the
criminal record of the accused, and any other information given to
them by police. These documents are drafted by the police without
input from the accused - or even the victim - so they are often rife
with errors and bias. The defence lawyer talks to the people involved
and then gives the Crown any information left out by the police that
will help the accused - without giving the Crown information that
will disclose or damage possible defences.
