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Every drug and firearms file starts with the same question: was the search lawful? Section 8 of the Charter guarantees the right to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure — and where police cross that line, the remedy under s. 24(2) can be exclusion of the evidence.
The reasonableness test in a sentence
A search is reasonable when it is authorized by law, the law itself is reasonable, and the search is carried out in a reasonable manner. The Crown bears the burden of establishing each element.
Common flaws we look for
- Warrant applications built on stale or unreliable informants.
- Traffic stops that morph into investigatory detention without grounds.
- Consent characterised as free when the surrounding circumstances suggest otherwise.
- Searches that exceed the scope of what the warrant authorised.
Why it matters
Excluding the evidence — the phone, the search, the seized substance — often ends the case. That is where much of the real work in drug and firearms defence lives.