Trial courts take direction from previous appellate level decisions. However, as can be seen below, trial courts have generated the most police powers out of all three levels we categorized in this section. Trial court judges are essential to the fact finding process within the criminal justice system. Once the facts have been agreed upon in a trial, they are accepted by appellate courts if there is an appeal by the losing side at the trial level. This suggests that trial courts have an impact on appellate level decisions and the facts and arguments heard at the trial level are often relied upon during the appeal process.
Trial courts take direction from previous appellate level decisions. However, as can be seen below, trial courts have generated the most police powers out of all three levels we categorized in this section. Trial court judges are essential to the fact finding process within the criminal justice system. Once the facts have been agreed upon in a trial, they are accepted by appellate courts if there is an appeal by the losing side at the trial level. This suggests that trial courts have an impact on appellate level decisions and the facts and arguments heard at the trial level are often relied upon during the appeal process.
Common Law Police Powers Deployed from 2020-2021:
Common Law Police Powers Deployed from 2020-2021:
In the past 35 years, the Supreme Court of Canada has generated several key police powers that have changed the criminal law landscape. Alongside warrantless roadside detentions (R v Dedman), the Supreme Court has provided police with the ability to detain individuals during a police investigation and search incident to the investigatory detention for police safety (R v Mann). The Supreme Court has also provided police with the power to use sniffer-dogs without a warrant (R v Kang-Brown, R v AM), and warrantless cell phone searches incident to arrest (R v Fearon).
Common Law Police Powers Generated from 1985-1989:
In the 1980s, Dedman v The Queen (1985) established that checkstop programs such as Reduced Impairment Driving Everywhere (RIDE) were justified by statute and the common law. In the following few years, the courts built on the ruling in Dedman by deciding that police have the power to stop a vehicle while roving the streets (R v Spurvey, [1986] NJ No 266, R v Rellin, [1986] BCJ No 1278, R v George, [1988] NJ No 219), in addition to checkstop powers.
In many instances, demanding roadside sobriety tests were found to be legal under the common law and statute (R v Dube, [1986] NBJ No 458, R v Learn, [1986] OJ No 1967, R v Gallant, [1989] AJ No 311). A police officer does not engage an individual's Charter-protected right to counsel when asking him or her to participate in a roadside sobriety test (R v Learn, at paragraph 12).
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While Charter jurisprudence around search and seizure was in its infancy, in the mid-to-late '80s, courts established common law powers dealing with searching an individual incident to arrest and prior to being arrested (R v DeBot, [1986] OJ No 994), along with well-being checks that can result in an officer opening the door of a vehicle without a warrant (R v Patrick, [1986] AJ No 190).
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Hover over the boxes below to reveal the cases that generated police powers in each year.