On November 29, 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) rendered
its decision in Kosoian v. Société de transport
de Montréal, 2019 SCC 59 and unanimously ruled in
favour of Bela Kosoian, overturning the decisions of the
Québec courts below and ordering the Société
de transport de Montréal (STM) (the authority responsible
for the subway system), the City of Laval and constable Fabio
Camacho to pay her $20,000 in relation with her detention and
arrest 10 years ago.
This decision is an important victory for Kosoian, but also for
the Canadian Civil Law Association, which acted as intervener
before the SCC in this case, and for all Canadians. Indeed, the
Supreme Court ruled that police officers are civilly liable if they
interfere with Canadians’ rights and freedoms based on a
non-existent offence. The SCC also confirmed that Canadians can
refuse to identify themselves to police officers when such request
has no valid legal basis, ruling that if the offence the
