When faced with this scenario, do you allow the police to enter
your home?
Knowing Your Rights
Your rights against unreasonable exercises by the police are
enshrined in the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms1. Many cases have explored these rights.
Very recently, in R v. Stairs2, the
Supreme Court of Canada further reiterated that when a home is
being entered without a warrant (for the purposes of arrest), the
surrounding area of the person being arrested is free for the
police to not only search but to seize property. The three-part
test permits the police to search the person and the surrounding
area when: (1) the arrest is lawful; (2) the search is incidental
to the arrest, such that there is some reasonable basis for the
search connected to the arrest and the search is for a valid law
enforcement purpose, including safety, evidence preservation, or
evidence discovery; and (3) the nature and extent of the search are
reasonable.
