Problems with the Newly Expanded Power of Citizen's Arrest

(2012) 33:5 For the Defence 22

9 Pages Posted: 2 Jan 2015

See all articles by Vanessa MacDonnell

Vanessa MacDonnell

University of Ottawa - Common Law Section

Leonardo Russomanno

Russomanno Purcell Moore LLP

Date Written: 2012

Abstract

In 2010, the Government of Canada proposed legislation expanding the power of citizen’s arrest in Canada. Bill C-60, which died on the Order Paper at the end of the last Parliament, was reintroduced as Bill C-26 in the fall of 2011 as part of a larger package of reforms to Canada’s criminal justice system. These amendments to s. 494 of the Criminal Code expand the power of private property holders and their delegates to arrest individuals whom they “find... committing a criminal offence on or in relation to [their] property” by sanctioning not only immediate arrest, as the existing provision allows, but also arrest “within a reasonable time after the offence is committed.Bill C-26 received Royal Assent in June 2012.

Superficially, the changes to s. 494 are minor. Despite the apparently minor nature of the amendments, however, the government’s choice of legislative response deserves closer examination. The changes made by Bill C-26 have enlarged the arrest powers of not only the archetypal “private citizen” but also of private security guards, whose authority derives principally from the arrest powers under the Criminal Code and provincial trespass legislation. The impact of changes to the scope of citizen’s arrest powers must therefore be considered from the point of view of these two very different categories of arrestors.

In assessing the merits of expanding the power of citizen’s arrest in the manner proposed by Bill C-60, moreover, legislators ought also to consider whether the law adequately regulates the interaction between arrestor, arrestee and the police in the course of and following arrests made pursuant to s. 494. Given the considerable restrictions imposed on police authority notwithstanding their professional training, it seems reasonable to examine whether similar requirements ought to be imposed on all arrestors. Where private arrests are concerned, we might also want to consider whether arrests by truly “private” citizens should be regulated in the same manner as arrests by quasi-professional private security forces.

Keywords: criminal law, Criminal Code of Canada, citizen's arrest, policing, private security forces, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Suggested Citation

MacDonnell, Vanessa and Russomanno, Leonardo, Problems with the Newly Expanded Power of Citizen's Arrest (2012). (2012) 33:5 For the Defence 22, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2544529

Vanessa MacDonnell (Contact Author)

University of Ottawa - Common Law Section ( email )

57 Louis Pasteur Street
Ottawa, K1N 6N5
Canada
613-562-5800 (7917) (Phone)

Leonardo Russomanno

Russomanno Purcell Moore LLP ( email )

352 Elgin Street
Ottawa, Ontario K2P 1M8
Canada

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