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Difference between revisions of "Charter Rights: Legal Rights"
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→Right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned (section 9)
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Everyone has the '''right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned'''. Something is arbitrary if there is no good reason for it. Being detained is when you are kept somewhere you don’t want to be. | Everyone has the '''right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned'''. Something is arbitrary if there is no good reason for it. Being detained is when you are kept somewhere you don’t want to be. | ||
The Criminal Code and other laws set out when someone can be detained or arrested. Those laws must be consistent with section 9 of the Charter. For example, police can only detain you if there are '''reasonable grounds''' (good reasons) to suspect you are connected to a crime. If police arrest you, you must be brought before a justice of the peace (a court officer who deals with process matters) as soon as possible — normally within 24 hours — to see if you can be released from custody. The police cannot hold you in custody without justifying this is needed. | The ''Criminal Code'' and other laws set out when someone can be detained or arrested. Those laws must be consistent with section 9 of the Charter. For example, police can only detain you if there are '''reasonable grounds''' (good reasons) to suspect you are connected to a crime. If police arrest you, you must be brought before a justice of the peace (a court officer who deals with process matters) as soon as possible — normally within 24 hours — to see if you can be released from custody. The police cannot hold you in custody without justifying this is needed. | ||
Another example: let’s say the police stop you as you walk along the sidewalk. If the police reasonably believe you are connected to a crime, they have a legal power to stop (that is, detain) you to ask questions. If the police have reasonable grounds to arrest you for committing a crime, they can arrest you. But if the police are just making conversation, you can ask the police whether you are free to go. If the answer is no, you are being detained, and you could ask the police what legal authority they are relying on to detain you. | Another example: let’s say the police stop you as you walk along the sidewalk. If the police reasonably believe you are connected to a crime, they have a legal power to stop (that is, detain) you to ask questions. If the police have reasonable grounds to arrest you for committing a crime, they can arrest you. But if the police are just making conversation, you can ask the police whether you are free to go. If the answer is no, you are being detained, and you could ask the police what legal authority they are relying on to detain you. | ||
===Right to know the reasons you’re arrested or detained (section 10)=== | ===Right to know the reasons you’re arrested or detained (section 10)=== | ||