Quote:
Originally Posted by ken0042
Jolinar- are you certain about the search law with respect to border crossings? I tend to agree that a police officer cannot just pull you over and search your car while driving around town. But I thought one of the conditions of crossing the border was that you consent to a search.
Taking it another step, does that mean I have the right to refuse a search at the airport?
I'm just thinking the last few border crossings I have done; the closest thing the US border guard has done to asking was to say "pop the trunk."
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I want to be clear here. The customs act authorizes the search of people, goods and conveyances when entering the country. There is most certainly a much lower threshold of reasonable expectation of privacy when crossing the border. Case law has determined that warrant less searches are reasonable at the border. R. vs Simmons is one of the guiding jurisprudence with regards to searches at the border.
Basically what I am saying is this. Customs officers do not require a warrant to search your vehicle. They can search your vehicle basically at any time but they still have to articulate why they searched your vehicle. They cannot just say "because I felt like being a dick". They would have to list the indicators as to why they decided to search the vehicle.
Just like when the G-8 was on. Every vehicle was searched entering Canada at the borders in Alberta and BC. The justification was because of increased security required because of the event. Or, the border sometimes does random projects. Sometimes they run projects on certain states where people are coming from, similar to check stops. There is always a reason why they search and if there isn't then the person could have something to fight if they went to court.
Section 98 of the customs act which authorizes the search states this:
98.(1) An officer may search
(a) any person who has arrived in Canada, within a reasonable time after his arrival in Canada,
(b) any person who is about to leave Canada, at any time prior to his departure, or
(c) any person who has had access to an area designated for use by persons about to leave Canada and who leaves the area but does not leave Canada, within a reasonable time after he leaves the area,
if the officer suspects on reasonable grounds that the person has secreted on or about his person anything in respect of which this Act has been or might be contravened, anything that would afford evidence with respect to a contravention of this Act or any goods the importation or exportation of which is prohibited, controlled or regulated under this or any other Act of Parliament.
Section 99 allows for the examination of goods, which would be anything you are bringing into the country such as your car or luggage.
Now when it comes to answering questions, that is a different story. There are two different legislative authorities when it comes to this. Questions asked under the customs act and questions asked under the Immigration Act. Someone seeking entry must answer all the relevant customs questions and all people seeking entry must answer truthfully ANY question asked for Immigration purposes.
So when the guy in question started to not answer the questions, he would have been in breach of Canadian law had he been entering Canada.
So basically, a customs officer can search you whenever they want but they also need to be able to articulate the grounds as to why. Because of case law that requirement is very low, but it still must be done.