Procedure on Seizure of Property

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General Principles

Upon seizing property under s. 489, the police are obliged to safeguard the items they have seized.[1]

Section 489.1 governs the procedure to be followed by the police upon seizing property, whether under warrant, warrantless, or otherwise under an Act of Parliament including s. 489. This applies to seizure on search incident to arrest as well as seizure incidental to a search warrant.[2]

Restitution of property or report by peace officer
489.1 (1) Subject to this or any other Act of Parliament, where a peace officer has seized anything under a warrant issued under this Act or under section 487.11 or 489 or otherwise in the execution of duties under this or any other Act of Parliament, the peace officer shall, as soon as is practicable,

(a) where the peace officer is satisfied,
(i) that there is no dispute as to who is lawfully entitled to possession of the thing seized, and
(ii) that the continued detention of the thing seized is not required for the purposes of any investigation or a preliminary inquiry, trial or other proceeding,

return the thing seized ... to the person lawfully entitled to its possession and report to the justice who issued the warrant ... or, if no warrant was issued, a justice having jurisdiction in respect of the matter, that he has done so; or

(b) where the peace officer is not satisfied as described in subparagraphs (a)(i) and (ii),
(i) bring the thing seized before the justice referred to in paragraph (a), or
(ii) report to the justice that he has seized the thing and is detaining it or causing it to be detained

to be dealt with by the justice in accordance with subsection 490(1).
...
Form
(3) A report to a justice under this section shall be in the form set out as Form 5.2 in Part XXVIII, varied to suit the case...
R.S., 1985, c. 27 (1st Supp.), s. 72; 1993, c. 40, s. 17; 1997, c. 18, s. 49.


– CCC

Under s. 489.1(1)(b)(ii), where the police seize property either in execution of a warrant or otherwise in execution of their duties, they must file a Report to Justice that is filed with the justice of the peace.

This will permit the officer to hold onto the property for a period of 90 days without laying charges. Where further time is needed the officer must apply for a further detention order under s. 490.

Any property seized pursuant to a search warrant "must be carreid before the justice who issued the warrant to be dealt with by him according to law".[3]

"Justice"
The reference to "justice" requires that the application be heard by a justice of the peace or a judge of the provincial court.[4]

Charter
Section 8 of the Charter can apply to the detention of items seized under s. 489 and 489.1.[5] Unreasonable retention of property may give rise to a s. 8 violation.[6]

A failure to report to the justice that the property was seized without warrant is a violation of s. 8 of the Charter.[7]


  1. ↑ R v Strilec, 2010 BCCA 198 (CanLII)
    R v Wint 2009 ONCA 52 (CanLII)
  2. ↑ R v Backhouse, 2005 CanLII 4937 (ON CA)
  3. ↑ AG (Nova Scotia) v MacIntyre, [1982] 1 SCR 175, 1982 CanLII 14 (SCC) at p. 179
  4. ↑ see s. 2 "justice" and Definition of Judicial Officers and Offices
  5. ↑ R v Garcia-Machado, 2014 ONCJ 81 (CanLII), [2014] OJ No 818 at para 50
    c.f. R v Persaud, [2008] OJ No 5077 (SCJ)(*no CanLII links)
    c.f. R v Vinneau, 2010 NBPC 19 (CanLII), [2010] NBJ No 122 (PC)
  6. ↑ R v Kirubanathan [2011] O.J. No. 5766 (S.C.J.)(*no CanLII links)
    R v Poulin [2004] O.J. No. 1354 (S.C.J.)(*no CanLII links)
    R v Villaroman, 2012 ABQB 630 (CanLII), [2012] A.J. No. 1425 (Q.B.), appealed on other matters to 2016 SCC 33 (CanLII)
  7. ↑ e.g. R v Butters, 2015 ONCA 783 (CanLII) at para 5

Report to Justice

See also: List of Criminal Code Forms

Section 489.1 requires the seizing officer to file a Form 5.2 to the Justice who authorized the search. This requirement applies to seizures under s. 487 and s. 11 CDSA.[1]

489.1
...
Form
(3) A report to a justice under this section shall be in the form set out as Form 5.2 in Part XXVIII, varied to suit the case and shall include, in the case of a report in respect of a warrant issued by telephone or other means of telecommunication, the statements referred to in subsection 487.1(9).
R.S., 1985, c. 27 (1st Supp.), s. 72; 1993, c. 40, s. 17; 1997, c. 18, s. 49.


– CCC

A failure to file a report to justice under Form 5.2 does not render a valid search invalid, however, it will render detention of the items unreasonable and in breach of s. 8 of the Charter.[2]

The filing of a report is considered the "gateway" to "important procedural protections under s. 489.1 and 490 and so must be timely.[3] Courts should be "wary of any attempt to characterize the failure to meet the reporting reuqirements ... as trivial or insignificant".[4]

Timing of Filing
The report to justice must be filed "as soon as practiable". Failure to do so may result in a violation of s. 8.[5]

A late filing of Form 5.2 even by a few days will also violate s. 8 of the Charter.[6]

Section 487 Warrants
Section 487 also contemplates a requirement for a report to justice being made:

Information for search warrant
487. (1) A justice who is satisfied by information on oath in Form 1 that there are reasonable grounds to believe that there is in a building, receptacle or place
...

(e) subject to any other Act of Parliament, to, as soon as practicable, bring the thing seized before, or make a report in respect thereof to, the justice or some other justice for the same territorial division in accordance with section 489.1.


...


– CCC

  1. ↑ e.g. R v Carpio, 2013 BCPC 305 (CanLII) - discusses requirements under CDSA
  2. ↑ R v Craig, 2016 BCCA 154 (CanLII) at para 177 to 184
    R. v. Arason, (1992), 1992 CanLII 1008 (BC CA), 78 C.C.C. (3d) 1 (BCCA) - court says failure to file the form does not affect the validity of the search
  3. ↑ R v Reeves, 2017 ONCA 365(*no CanLII links) at para 78
    R v Garcia-Machado, 2015 ONCA 569 (CanLII) at para 55
  4. ↑ Reeves, supra at para 78
  5. ↑ R v Butters, 2014 ONCJ 228 (CanLII), at paras 49 to 57 - per Paciocco J.
  6. ↑ R v Montgomery, 2016 BCCA 379 (CanLII), per Frankel JA, at para 159 to 160

See Also

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