Foreword

AuthorSteve Coughlan - Glen Luther
ProfessionProfessor, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University - Associate Professor, College of Law, Saskatchewan
Pages11-12

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The publication of this book is opportune for the Canadian legal system. Arrest and detention are important police powers that tell us much about the relationship between citizens and police in a democratic society. Exploring the balance between legitimate law enforcement and the freedom of citizens to be left alone has led to some controversy about when a detention or arrest is justified. Interactions between the police and citizens are increasingly under scrutiny for a number of reasons: there is uncertainty about the police force’s power to assert authority in certain situations; there have been allegations of police using excessive force; and there is the constant question of whether racial profiling has factored into the decision to detain - and sometimes all of these issues surface at once.

Contributing to the legal uncertainty, the Supreme Court of Canada recognized a common law investigative detention power in R. v. Mann (2004), 21 C.R. (6th) 1. Unfortunately, that decision made it even less clear when a detention for Charter purposes had occurred. In R. v. Grant (2009), 66 C.R. (6th) 1, the Supreme Court of Canada has just recently refined the test for when a detention for Charter purposes has occurred and, for the first time, defined when such a detention is arbitrary contrary to section 9 of the Charter. Thus, the time is ripe for a comprehensive work on detention and arrest.

Steve Coughlan and Glen Luther have met that need with this book. Although the book does not analyze every situation in which an individual might be detained or arrested, it does address the major powers of arrest and detention, whether at common law or by statute. The authors

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have consciously focused on street level encounters between police and the citizenry, although they have expanded the coverage to include the arrest and compelling appearance processes. They have wisely decided not to attempt to deal with all of the myriad provincial powers of detention or arrest or with specialized contexts such as at border crossings. Even with ignoring those topics, the book is a comprehensive guide to this area of criminal procedure and criminal law. Practitioners, judges, and academic lawyers will all benefit from its exposition of this varied and complex terrain.

After an introductory chapter, the bulk of the book is presented in four chapters. Chapter Two provides a clear and lucid...

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