Caryma Sa'd

Whether or not you’ve done something wrong, it’s stressful to deal with police because anything you say can and will be used against you. There are good cops and of course there are bad cops. You don’t get to choose who you encounter and even the nicest police officer will use your mistakes against you. Therefore, it is essential to have the tools to confidentially assert your rights if necessary. The choices you make have a massive impact on the outcome of your police encounter. Some tips to minimize the impact of a police encounter includes and are not limited to:

1. Pull over immediately – If a police officer flags you down while you are in operation of a motor vehicle, you should pull over immediately and put your interior lights on and hands on the steering wheel. You should provide your license and registration on request.

2. Do not be over cooperative – Some people capitulate in every way possible e.g. when a police officer asks to look in a person’s glove compartment, trunk, under the mats etc. and not knowing better, the individual just complies and gives the officer an opportunity to find something that should not be there.

3. Do not get angry, antagonistic, or mouthy – Control your words, do not talk back, don’t raise your voice, do not use profanity, modulate your tone and body language, and be respectful during your encounter. There is a time and place to vent your frustrations after the encounter is over.

4. Don’t get tricked –Never let threats or false promises from the police trick you into waiving your rights. Police can lie to you, they do not have to tell you the truth.

5. Never lie to the police - You however, should not lie to the police. Lying can lead to obstruction of justice charges, and you may find yourself in more trouble than you started. The best option is to keep your mouth shut.

6. Right to remain silent – You have a right to remain silent which you can utilize at any time. Asking to speak to a lawyer is a way to assert that right. Do not be tempted to talk your way out of a bad situation because anything you say is digging yourself a hole especially if the police already decided to charge you.

7. Self-serving statements - Anything you say can and will be used against you, in fact, anything you say that asserts your innocence will be inadmissible as evidence. So, all the good parts of your statement will not be used for your trial only the inconsistent or contradicting parts of your statements will be used at trial.

If you have a legitimate gripe about poor treatment by police, you can report misconduct in a formal way. Here’s how you go about doing that:

1.      Pay attention to all the details of the events, including the description of the officers and the exact words that they say (to the extent that you can). If you have a phone you can record your interactions; if that’s not an option, do your best to remember what the officer tells you.

2.      Get other witnesses to corroborate your story – figure out if anyone you know or don’t know was there at the time, determine if they are willing to listen to you or cooperate with you, listen to their recollection.

3.      Collect your thoughts immediately after your encounter with the police officer. Use a device to record the chain of events. This could be as simple as writing down contemporaneous notes, sending a quick email, or make a voice recording to yourself.

4.      Gather evidence – if you have been hurt, get photos of your injuries at their worst. You should also obtain medical reports.

5.      Get the names and badge numbers of the police officers if possible. There is no need to inform the police that you plan on reporting the misconduct.

Once you have all this information, you have a few options at your disposal:

a.       You can see a lawyer as soon as possible, especially if the incident occurred in the context of outstanding criminal charges. It is best to seek legal representation; lawyers, and in some cases paralegals, are trained to deal with these situations.

While a police officer can pull you over for any reason, they do need reasonable grounds to search you. Police cannot execute a search without your expressed consent. They might ask kindly, but you don’t have to agree. Your permission makes the search legal in the eyes of the law. Emptying your pockets and opening your bag pack are also examples where you consent to searches.By consenting to a search, you expose yourself to significant liability for the police possibly finding an illegal substance or item—including something left by someone else. You can be arrested even if you had nothing to do with it. In this way, you are essentially opening a can of worms. How can you assert your rights in these situations?

ASSERT YOUR RIGHTS WITH SOME MAGIC WORDS:

1. “I do not consent to searches” – “Officer, I’m sorry and I understand you are just trying to do your job, but I do not consent to searches”. You must be prepared to state something along these lines under pressure. The police officer may not like your answer. But remember that refusing a search is not evidence of guilt, it is you asserting your rights. 

Landlords and Tenants can both file certain applications online. This the quickest and most cost-effective way to get your concerns across. If you are not financially equipped to retain legal representation, there is a tenant duty counsel available at the Landlord and Tenant Board Office. Landlords can call into the Landlord’s Self-Help Line.

If you’re facing issues, it is vital to document everything that you can. You should write down the date, time and details of anytime there is a relevant incident, and this is especially useful if you’re dealing with a subtle problem e.g. discrimination where it becomes clear after being exposed to more incidents. The Landlord Tenant Board has relaxed rules of evidence, but you still need to prove your case. The best way to do that is to document and keep notes.

TENANT:

It is not a good feeling to receive a notice of termination in the mail. There are different notices to deal with different problems. If a N4 was served on you, it could be because you’re behind in rent or you haven’t paid it. If you receive an N5, that could be indicative of you (or someone else in your household) is doing that substantially interferes with the enjoyment of the rental unit for Landlord or other tenants.

There are circumstances where you have not done anything wrong but still receive a notice of termination. For example, if an N12 is served on you it may be because the Landlord needs the rental unit for their own personal use, or for a family member. An N13 is a notice for the demolition or major changes in reconstruction to the building where you may have to relocate. Even in these circumstances you have rights.

In April 2017, the Ontario Government introduced the fair housing policy. One of the changes relates to the N12 notices. Specifically, landlords must prove good faith and compensate tenants for at least one month of rent if an N12 is served for personal use. This policy came into effect because many Landlords were evicting tenants based on an N12 notice, and then marketing the same rental unit for a higher rent. While this makes economic sense, it is not necessarily ethically sound and put tenants in a vulnerable position.  Except for extenuating circumstances, your Landlord cannot arbitrarily double the rent regardless of what the housing market is.

It is difficult to evict a tenant, so if you have received a notice of eviction and you want to dispute it, you should seek legal advice because you have various options and rights.

The Landlord and Tenant Board is one of Ontario’s busiest tribunals. It is where matters relating to residential tenancy are heard. There are approximately 40-45 board members. Adjudicators are appointed based on their expertise, history, or knowledge. Their role is to interpret the law. If you’re at one of these tribunals, there are some points to keep in mind:

1.      The process is relatively informal compared to provincial or superior court.

2.      They have relaxed standards of evidence e.g. at the board you can admit Hearsay into evidence which means the adjudicator will listen to you and ascribe weight to how credible you came across. E.g. you can bring an email into the Landlord and Tenant Board and not have to prove the server it came from etc.

3.      You can apply for certain things online:

For Landlords:

a.      If you need to evict a tenant because they have accumulated a lot of arrears in rent, you can file an L1 application online. Be careful not to make any mistakes on the form because this can void your application and you will have to start from scratch.

b.       To end a tenancy for a variety of other reasons, you can file an L2 form.

For Tenants:

a.      If you’re a tenant, you can file a T2, an application about tenant rights online. I do recommend you hire a lawyer or paralegal to send in the applications on your behalf to prevent your application from being voided for any mistakes.

If you fear for your safety, you should consider getting a peace bond against the threatening individual. Here is how you can go about doing that:

STEP 1:

Go to the court house and find the Justice of Peace Office. They will give you a form and you will explain what caused you to fear for your safety. You will then be asked to affirm whether you’re telling the truth. Beware that if you will open yourself to trouble if you lie in the application.

STEP 2:

Once the documents are filled and submitted, the next step is for the police to issue the summons. This is an important step in the peace bond proceedings because it puts the other party on notice that you’re taking the threats and the matter seriously. It’s jarring to have the police knock on your door and often it sends a strong signal.

STEP 3:

Once the summons is issued and you have your hearing date, you will then have to show up at the hearing. At the hearing you are essentially providing evidence to prove to the court that a peace bond is warranted. The Justice will listen to you and what it is you need from the court to feel safe. There is no guarantee you will get everything you ask for but the very least you will be putting the person on notice that you can act. If a peace bond is granted, it imposes certain restrictions on the person who is named.

CONDITIONS THAT A PEACE BOND MAY INCLUDE:

1.      Keeping the peace and being of good behaviour

2.      Do not contact the person who is the subject of the peace bond, their spouse or child

3.      Do not visit the person who is the subject of the peace bond, their spouse or child

4.      Do not call the person who is the subject of the peace bond on the phone

5.      Do not write or send text messages to the person who is the subject of the peace bond

6.      Abstain from using non-prescription drugs or alcohol and be required to provide bodily samples to ensure compliance

7.      Be forbidden from owning weapons

8.      Pay or promise to pay a refundable cash bond to the court. This sum may be forfeited if they breach any of the conditions in the order or any other condition that the court considers desirable to prevent the harm.

You can apply for a peace bond without the police. This is known as a common law peace bond. To get this done you can contact a lawyer and they will help you get all the necessary documentation in. The difference is instead of the police providing notice to the other party, you will have to deliver it yourself which could put you in a potentially dangerous spot.

There is an alternate process to obtain a peace bond.

STEP 1:

If you want the police to get involved more thoroughly in getting a peace bond, you can contact the local police directly and explain to them what your concerns are. Based on that, the police will interview the person to prepare an information. An information is essentially a statement explaining exactly why the person fears a specific individual is likely to commit an offence.

 STEP 2:

The police will investigate, including interviewing other witnesses, as well as performing a criminal record check and interviewing the defendant. If the police agree that there are reasonable grounds for the person’s fear, they will draft a peace bond with a list of conditions and then contact the defendant and ask if they are willing to consent. In most cases, defendants will consent to sign in order to avoid going to court. If the defendant does not consent to the peace bond, the police will swear the information before the court and a hearing date will be set.

STEP 3:

My first contact with potential clients is usually electronic, which includes text message, phone call, email and live chat. Before you sign a retainer agreement, you’re not a lawyer’s client, so you shouldn’t be telling them sensitive information. This is especially true over email and text messages, since these modes of communication can be intercepted.

If you need a lawyer, the best thing to do is send out a feeler. Be as brief and concise as possible and request a meeting date. It is usually good to speak to a lawyer over the phone, so you can get a sense of whether they deal with your area of law, or whether the lawyer is someone you want to work with. You should then set up a consultation. My consultations usually last about an hour. I get an understanding of the problems the person is facing and more importantly, how they want things to resolve. This can include working to drop charges, enforcing rights, defending yourself, reinstating your name or financial compensation.

When you have a lawyer, part of the lawyer’s job is to do research that is relevant and pertinent to your case. They should communicate that to you and keeping your apprised of the current landscape and things that will affect your case.

Imagine waking up late for work and you’re rushing out the house and you’re running to work and out of nowhere a police officer stops you and starts asking you your name and where you live, who your friends are, your plans, etc. This can go on for about a few seconds to minutes. This process is known as carding.

Carding is basically being stopped by the police for no reason to give them details about you and your life and other information at the police officer’s discretion. The practice disproportionately affects black or indigenous communities and it sends an adverse message from the police to anyone who is arbitrarily carded. The information the police officers collect during carding is unconstitutional, even if police claim they do not use it unless necessary. Essentially, they should not have it at all because the threshold for reasonable grounds is not met.

Carding policies are under review and new rules have be instated as to when and in what circumstances police can gather someone’s information without having a reason to do so.

Not all communities experience carding in the same way. I encourage you to check out the work of Desmond Cole on the subject in the following links:

https://torontolife.com/city/life/skin-im-ive-interrogated-police-50-times-im-black/

https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2017/04/20/carding-protest-derails-toronto-police-board-meeting.html

http://www.metronews.ca/news/edmonton/2017/07/11/q-and-a-with-activist-and-journalist-desmond-cole.html

If someone is under eighteen when they’re charged with an offence, they are going to be dealing with different sets of rules. Some of the distinctions between adult criminal court and youth court include:

1.       Youths can have a parent or guardian present during a police interrogation. The criminal process is arduous and an ordeal so a parent or guardian’s presence during interrogation helps protect the rights of the minor.

2.      Youths have more options on getting discharges such as restitution and community service are common in youth court for the accused to do right by the victim and learn a lesson without major blotch on their record.

3.      The Youth Criminal Justice Act is used to determine the sanction for youths that engage in unlawful activities.

4.      A police officer may take other measures before starting judicial proceedings against a youth who is alleged to have committed an offence. This can incluse cautioning the youth or referring him/her to a youth program

5.      Sentencing a youth holds the young offender accountable for an offence through meaningful sanctions geared towards the rehabilitation of the young person.

1.      A lawyer’s job is to protect your legal rights and interests. If you have a lawyer you do not trust, you should find another lawyer. Your relationship with your lawyer is one of the most important relationships in your life if you are facing charges. Choose wisely.

2.      Effective communication is essential for any lawyer client relationship. You should be in contact with your lawyer about developments in your case, including discussions with the Crown.

3.      A lawyer interprets the law and explains how it relates to your legal issue. This would help you understand the strengths and weaknesses of your case and options available to you. A lawyer can also utilize alternative dispute resolution to help resolve your dispute without litigation.

·         When you are hiring a lawyer, a retainer agreement or engagement letter is evidence of the existence of your relationship. This is the foundational document that describes the relationship between you and your lawyer. This document sets out your rights and responsibilities in your working relationship together. The lawyer is there for the client and the client should be responsive to the lawyer. Your lawyer’s obligation is to act in your best interest even if someone else is funding your legal representation.

·         If you sign a joint retainer, essentially you, your lawyer and other individuals under the retainer are agreeing to work together. However, if the interests of you and the other parties start to diverge and a conflict arises, that may make it impossible for the lawyer to act in your best interest.  Another feature of a joint relationship is all information is shared among all parties, a lawyer would not be able to keep a secret in relation to one party to the retainer from another party of the same retainer.

·         Lawyers bill for their services in different ways. The most common approach is the hourly rate. The document will log their time spent working on your matter and they will bill you accordingly. The downside to this would be the unpredictability of hours the lawyer ends up spending on your case and you’re footing the bill for that.

·         Another option is block fees. During the initial consultation, the lawyer can provide an estimate of how much they think the case is worth or will take and that’s the amount you pay. You will be notified of all unforeseen circumstances in advance. I use block fees as often that I can. Disbursements and out of pocket expenses are not included such as transportation costs, application filing fees and registered mail. These are reflected in the accounts the lawyer provides to you to show you what your money is being used for.

·         You have obligations to your lawyer as much as your lawyer has obligations to you, therefore, the same way you can fire a lawyer for failing to perform obligations, your lawyer can do the same to you.

·         Under no circumstances is it possible for a lawyer to guarantee the outcome of your case.