The purpose of this Digest is to capture the essence of those cases decided by the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC), that have a direct effect on police operations, including some of the administrative aspects related to police operations. Exceptionally, some decisions of the provincial courts of appeal are reported, where it is felt that the decision has achieved recognition as established law because leave to appeal to the SCC was not sought or was denied, and because the decision has been adopted by other provincial appellate courts or was subsequently referred to by the SCC with approval.

The focus of the original version of the Digest (produced in the year 2000) was almost exclusively on Charter cases, and therefore was limited to cases decided since the Charter came into force (1982). In the 2002 edition, we expanded the Digest to include non-Charter cases as well, and consequently included cases going as far back as 1949 (when the SCC became Canada’s highest appellate court). In the 2004 edition, we updated the Digest by adding the following cases: R. v. Buhay (search of rented locker), R. v. Fliss (officer uses inadmissible notes to refresh memory), Information Commissioner v. Canada (RCMP) (access to past postings of RCMP members), Maranda v. Richer (search of lawyer’s office), Odhavji Estate v. Woodhouse (misfeasance in a public office), and Quebec (Attorney General) v. Laroche (restraint order re: proceeds of crime). We usually (but with some exceptions) limit our summary to a statement of the principle for which the case stands for (printed in bold type). For more recent cases, our general rule is to also provide a précis of the facts and an elaboration of the court’s rationale. Where a case generates several principles affecting police operations, we report the case under the several appropriate headings to which it relates, but a précis of the facts is given under only one of the headings, with cross references to it in the other headings. The strength (and weakness) of this Digest is its focus on only those aspects of a case having an impact on police operations; therefore, the reader should not assume that all aspects of a case are summarized in the Digest. The 2005 edition is another update.

Since our objective in producing this Digest is to better serve you, we are counting on you to provide feedback to us. Send your comments by e-mail to denis.scott@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

We are distributing the Police Law Digest electronically. It is also accessible via internet at the RCMP web site. You can access the Digest at the following address: http://infoweb.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/hr/learning/toolbox/index_e.htm

Editor: Denis J. E. Scott
Legal Counsel
RCMP Legal Services