There is confusion about Section 638.1 of the Highway Safety Code, a provision against obstruction of police functions applying the Highway Safety Code. Specifically, I saw a prosecutor claim that clearing the street during a demonstration is a function applying the jaywalking provision of the Highway Safety Code. False. The function in question in this case is Section 48 of the Police Act. The mission of police forces and of each police force member is to maintain peace, order and public security, to prevent and repress crime and, according to their respective jurisdiction as set out in sections 50, 69 and 289.6, offences under the law and municipal by-laws, and to apprehend offenders. Thus, if it was in the name of the jaywalking provision, it would be in the context of a mission to repress... offences under the law. Only is the Highway Safety Code applied when the decision is made to enforce a provision, in this case the jaywalking provision, by intercepting someone and issuing a Statement of Offence, thus using the power from the Highway Safety Code. The other situation would be one where police exercise a power specifically outlined in a Highway Safety Code provision such as the right to impound a vehicle involved in a violation. The worst part of course is that the judge did not seem to understand this and accepted the prosecutors nonsense...
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 00:05:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015