The Charter and Policing
How the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms shapes everyday police work, for a two-year police foundations diploma: the rule of law and the supremacy of the Constitution, when the Charter applies under section 32, reasonable limits under section 1 and the Oakes test, and the remedies in sections 24 and 52; section 7 and fair identification procedures, disclosure under Stinchcombe, the right to silence and entrapment under Mack and Ahmad; section 8 and the reasonable expectation of privacy from Hunter v. Southam and Collins to warrants and their exceptions; phones, data and surveillance technology under Fearon, Spencer, Marakah and Bykovets; detention and arrest under sections 9 and 10(a), Grant, Mann and Le; the right to counsel under section 10(b), Manninen, Suberu and Sinclair; confessions and voluntariness under Oickle and Hebert; trial rights in sections 11 to 14, including Jordan, Antic and interpreters; equality, expression and peaceful assembly under sections 2 and 15, including racial profiling, recording police and protest policing; and exclusion of evidence under section 24(2) and the Grant test. The course follows the fictional Port Ardent police service and a cohort of students, and ends with a constitutional review of a complete case file and a casebook of leading decisions, with runnable Python examples throughout.
LES-111 Year 1 3 credits 12 lessons · 3 h 58 min ▶ Video lessons coming soon
Offered by HSM University · Law Enforcement Studies
This is the Canadian version of this course. See the American version.
What you'll learn
- Explain the rule of law and the place of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in Canadian law, and identify the Charter rights police meet most often.
- Determine when the Charter applies under section 32, how limits are justified under section 1 and the Oakes test, and what remedies follow a breach.
- Apply the principles of fundamental justice under section 7 to identification procedures, disclosure, questioning and undercover operations.
- Decide whether police conduct is a search under section 8 and whether it is reasonable under Hunter v. Southam and Collins.
- Apply constitutional privacy rules to phones, computers, data held by third parties and surveillance technology, and keep digital searches within their authorization.
- Distinguish conversations, investigative detentions and arrests, and apply the grounds and duties each requires under sections 9 and 10(a).
- Carry out the informational and implementational duties of section 10(b), including holding off questioning.
- Explain the protection against self-incrimination and the law of confessions, recognize the risk factors for false confessions and use information-gathering interview practices.
- Describe how police work affects the rights in sections 11 to 14, including trial within a reasonable time, reasonable bail, humane custody and interpreters.
- Apply equality rights and the freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly to stops, recording by the public and protest policing.
- Analyse whether evidence would be excluded under section 24(2) using the Grant test.
- Conduct a constitutional review of a complete police file, using leading decisions to assess each step and recommend improvements.
Course content
12 lessons · 3 h 58 min total · final exam
- 1 Constitutional rights and policing: the Charter and the rule of law 21 min · quiz
- 2 How Charter rights work: application, reasonable limits and remedies 20 min · quiz
- 3 Life, liberty and fundamental justice: section 7 20 min · quiz
- 4 Search and seizure: section 8 and the reasonable expectation of privacy 20 min · quiz
- 5 Privacy in the digital age: phones, data and new technology 20 min · quiz
- 6 Detention and arrest: sections 9 and 10(a) 20 min · quiz
- 7 The right to counsel: section 10(b) 19 min · quiz
- 8 The right to silence and confessions 20 min · quiz
- 9 Trial rights and police duties: sections 11 to 14 19 min · quiz
- 10 Equality, expression and assembly: sections 2 and 15 19 min · quiz
- 11 Exclusion of evidence: section 24(2) and the Grant test 20 min · quiz
- 12 Capstone: leading decisions and a constitutional review of a Port Ardent case file 20 min · quiz
- E Final exam 20 questions
Requirements
Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.
Description
How the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms shapes everyday police work, for a two-year police foundations diploma: the rule of law and the supremacy of the Constitution, when the Charter applies under section 32, reasonable limits under section 1 and the Oakes test, and the remedies in sections 24 and 52; section 7 and fair identification procedures, disclosure under Stinchcombe, the right to silence and entrapment under Mack and Ahmad; section 8 and the reasonable expectation of privacy from Hunter v. Southam and Collins to warrants and their exceptions; phones, data and surveillance technology under Fearon, Spencer, Marakah and Bykovets; detention and arrest under sections 9 and 10(a), Grant, Mann and Le; the right to counsel under section 10(b), Manninen, Suberu and Sinclair; confessions and voluntariness under Oickle and Hebert; trial rights in sections 11 to 14, including Jordan, Antic and interpreters; equality, expression and peaceful assembly under sections 2 and 15, including racial profiling, recording police and protest policing; and exclusion of evidence under section 24(2) and the Grant test. The course follows the fictional Port Ardent police service and a cohort of students, and ends with a constitutional review of a complete case file and a casebook of leading decisions, with runnable Python examples throughout.
Part of the Law stream, typically taken in year 1.