Canadian Criminal Procedure and Practice/Search and Seizure/Warrantless Searches/Exigent Circumstances

General Principles
Where there are "exigent circumstances", a police officer may forego the requirement of a search warrant.

The Courts have long recognized that the protections of s. 8 are "circumscribed by the existence of the potential for serious and immediate harm." Exigent circumstances "inform the reasonableness of the search...and may justify the absence of prior judicial authorization".

This rule has been codified in s. 487.11 of the Criminal Code:

In the context of a drug offence s. 11(7) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act provides that:

Generally, "exigent circumstances" exists where "there is an imminent danger of the loss, removal, destruction or disappearance of the evidence if the search or seizure is delayed."

In the context of police responding to 911 calls, the police have a duty to protect life which may result in a permissible encroachment on otherwise protected privacy rights. This right to protect life is "engaged whenever it can be inferred that the 911 caller is or may be in some distress, including cases where the call is disconnected before the nature of the emergency can be determined."

The Crown must present an "evidentiary basis" to establish the underlying police safety concerns.

Entry of residences
The Supreme Court of Canada in R v Feeney held that s. 8 of the Charter requires a warrant to enter a residence to arrest unless it falls into the common law doctrine of "hot pursuit".

Sections between 529 to 529.5 were added subsequent to the Feeney decision.

Section 529.3 "relieves against the requirement for a warrant to arrest where exigent circumstances make it impractical to obtain one."

Exigent circumstances are "generally found to exist where the police have reasonable grounds to be concerned that prior announcement would: (i) expose those executing the warrant to harm and/or (ii) result in loss or destruction of evidence and/or (iii) expose the occupants to harm."

Where police respond to a dropped 911 call they can enter the home if they have reasonable grounds to believe an offence has been committed. (R. v. Godoy [1999] 1 SCR 311, 1999 CanLII 709)

Searches of surrounding property is treated much in the same way as residences themselves. The police cannot search the perimeter of a residence without a warrant.

On a warrantless entry into a residence the courts should look at factors including:
 * 1) what information did the officers have?
 * 2) what information could they infer?
 * 3) what were their alternate courses of action?
 * 4) what was the reasonableness of the action they took?

Search of a rental room even with the consent of the building owner will generally require a warrant.

At common law, the doctrine of hot pursuit permits a peace officer "to enter a private premises to make an arrest in hot pursuit".

Hot Pursuit Exception
A "hot pursuit" requires a "fresh pursuit" that is a "continuous pursuit conducted with reasonable diligence, so that pursuit and capture along with the commission of the offence may be considered as forming part of a single transaction."

Before the doctrine applies, the police must "already have the power and grounds to arrest without a warrant" before entering the residence.

However, the police officer does not have to have personal knowledge to form the grounds. An officer continuing the pursuit from another officer can be sufficient.

This exception is considered "narrow" and presumes the police are "literally at the heels of a suspect at the moment the suspect enters a dwelling-house"

Wiretap
See Emergency_Wiretaps