R v Ladouceur, [1990] 1 S.C.R. 1257 is a leading decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on the constitutionality of random police traffic checks. The Court found that the random checks violated the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned under section 9 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, the violation was saved under section 1 as it was a valid form of deterrence for a pressing problem of traffic safety.
Gerald Ladouceur was pulled over by the police as part of a random traffic check. The police discovered that he was driving with a suspended licence. He was convicted of driving without a licence.
Ladouceur challenged the provision of the Highway Traffic Act which authorized the police officers to do random traffic checks as a violation of sections 7, 8, and 9 of the Charter. The conviction was upheld on appeal.
Reasons of the court
Justice Cory, writing for the majority, upheld the conviction. He found that there was clearly a violation of section 9 as the basis for the stops were in the complete discretion of the police and entirely arbitrary. Furthermore, the consequences of failing to yield to the detention included severe penalties.
He found that the act of stopping drivers did not constitute a "search" or a "seizure" and so did not invoke section 8. Lastly, Cory refused to consider whether there was a violation of section 7, given that there was already a violation of section 9.
The violation of section 9 was justified as a reasonable limitation under section 1. The government successfully established that there was a pressing and substantial objective of increasing highway safety, and that random stops were an effective means of achieving the objective through deterrence. This position was further supported by evidence of its effectiveness in other countries as well.
ladouceur, 1990, 1257, leading, decision, supreme, court, canada, constitutionality, random, police, traffic, checks, court, found, that, random, checks, violated, right, arbitrarily, detained, imprisoned, under, section, canadian, charter, rights, freedoms, h. R v Ladouceur 1990 1 S C R 1257 is a leading decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on the constitutionality of random police traffic checks The Court found that the random checks violated the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned under section 9 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms However the violation was saved under section 1 as it was a valid form of deterrence for a pressing problem of traffic safety R v LadouceurSupreme Court of CanadaHearing November 6 1989 Judgment May 31 1990Full case nameGerald Jay Ladouceur v Her Majesty The QueenCitations 1990 1 S C R 1257Court membershipChief Justice Brian DicksonPuisne Justices Antonio Lamer Bertha Wilson Gerard La Forest Claire L Heureux Dube John Sopinka Charles Gonthier Peter Cory Beverley McLachlinReasons givenMajorityCory J joined by Lamer L Heureux Dube Gonthier and McLachlin JJ ConcurrenceSopinka J joined by Dickson C J and Wilson and La Forest JJ Contents 1 Background 2 Reasons of the court 3 See also 4 External linksBackground EditGerald Ladouceur was pulled over by the police as part of a random traffic check The police discovered that he was driving with a suspended licence He was convicted of driving without a licence Ladouceur challenged the provision of the Highway Traffic Act which authorized the police officers to do random traffic checks as a violation of sections 7 8 and 9 of the Charter The conviction was upheld on appeal Reasons of the court EditJustice Cory writing for the majority upheld the conviction He found that there was clearly a violation of section 9 as the basis for the stops were in the complete discretion of the police and entirely arbitrary Furthermore the consequences of failing to yield to the detention included severe penalties He found that the act of stopping drivers did not constitute a search or a seizure and so did not invoke section 8 Lastly Cory refused to consider whether there was a violation of section 7 given that there was already a violation of section 9 The violation of section 9 was justified as a reasonable limitation under section 1 The government successfully established that there was a pressing and substantial objective of increasing highway safety and that random stops were an effective means of achieving the objective through deterrence This position was further supported by evidence of its effectiveness in other countries as well See also EditList of Supreme Court of Canada cases Dickson Court External links EditFull text of Supreme Court of Canada decision at LexUM and CanLII Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title R v Ladouceur amp oldid 1046044235, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
