Richard Jochelson & David Ireland -- Book Launch
Wednesday Nov 20 2019 7:00 pm, Winnipeg, Grant Park in the Atrium
Launch of Privacy in Peril: Hunter v Southam and the Drift from Reasonable Search Protections (UBC Press).
In 1984, the Supreme Court of Canada, in Hunter v Southam, declared warrantless searches unreasonable under section 8 of the Charter. Police would henceforth require authorization based on “reasonable and probable grounds.” The decision promised to protect individuals from encroaching state power, but as Richard Jochelson and David Ireland argue, post-Hunter search and seizure law took a turn away from the landmark decision. Even as it demonstrates that the core principles of Dickson’s vision for section 8 rights have been diminished in an era of heightened security and expanding police powers, Privacy in Peril suggests that increasing citation of Hunter in the halls of justice offers hope that some protection of civil liberties will endure in the twenty-first century.
Richard Jochelson teaches in the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba and is the author of several books on police powers and sexual regulation. After articling at the Alberta Court of Appeal and Court of Queen’s Bench, he worked at one of Canada’s largest law firms.
David Ireland teaches criminal law and evidence at the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba and is the director of the Robson Hall Innocence Clinic. He was called to the Manitoba bar in 2011 and has practised criminal law as both defence counsel and a prosecutor.
See:
Privacy in Peril
- Richard Jochelson 
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Trade paperback
$27.95
Reader Reward Price: $25.16
In 1984, the Supreme Court of Canada, in Hunter v Southam, declared warrantless searches unreasonable under section 8 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Police would henceforth require authorization based on "reasonable and probable grounds." The decision promised to protect individuals from state power, but as Richard Jochelson and David Ireland argue, post-Hunter search and seizure law took a turn away from the landmark decision. An examination of dozens of subsequent cases reveals that section 8 protections have become more difficult to obtain in the post-9/11 era. Rather than developing rigorous standards for new search and surveillance techniques and technologies, the courts have used the Charter to sanction broader police powers. Yet, even as it demonstrates that the core principles of Justice Dickson's vision for section 8 rights have been diminished, Privacy in Peril suggests that increasing citation of Hunter in the halls of justice offers hope that some protection of civil liberties will endure in the twenty-first century.
