NCJ Number
97809
Journal
Dalhousie Law Journal Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1984) Pages: 519-527
Date Published
1984
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Recent cases from the Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick, Canada, and the Court of Appeal reflect uncertainty in the area of police territorial jurisdiction.
Abstract
In Regina versus Soucy (1975), in which the accused was stopped by a Rothesay police officer outside the town's jurisdiction, the court held that statutory authority did not exist for extraterritorial jurisdiction. Consequently, the accused was acquitted. The 1977 Police Act appeared to provide this lacking statutory authority, but limited the conditions under which jurisdiction could be extended beyond provincial boundaries. In Regina versus Arsenault (1980), the court held that municipal police had no status outside their municipal boundaries unless such status was clearly derived from the Police Act's extended-boundaries provisions. These provisions were amended by the 1981 Statutes of New Brunswick. Regina versus Crane (1981) restricted an officer's extended jurisdiction to the subject matter which originally caused him to leave municipal boundaries. The case of Meryl Geoffrey Stewart versus Her Majesty addressed the issue of extended jurisdiction with respect to whether a matter is still under investigation. In view of these decisions and ambiguities in the Police Act, it is fair to say that regional and municipal police do not know the full extent or limits of their territorial jurisdiction. This situation requires remedy. The discretionary power of the Minister of Justice to extend the territorial jurisdiction of municipal appointed officers, likewise, deserves serious examination. Eight footnotes are provided.