Title

R v St. Clair

Authors

Steve Coughlan, Dalhousie University - Schulich School of LawFollow

Document Type

Response or Comment

Publication Date

2022

Keywords

Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Arbitrary Detention or Imprisonment, Unreasonable Search and Seizure, Arrest Unlawful

Abstract

A case comment on R v St Clair, 2021 ONCA 895.

A useful illustration of how courts should properly assess claims of police experience is found in the reasoning in St Clair. The Ontario Court of Appeal notes that the objective test looks at whether a reasonable person "with the officer's knowledge, experience and training, assessing the totality of the circumstances known to the officer at the time of the arrest, could have concluded that there were grounds to arrest the appellant" (para 24). St Clair exemplifies the kind of caution that should be shown.

Recommended Citation

Stephen Coughlan, "R v St. Clair", Case Comment, (2022) 77 CR (7th) 38.