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Showing posts from October, 2018

Police Officers & Excessive Force (Part 1)

Police officers are entitled to use force in the execution of their duties if they act on reasonable grounds in doing what they are required or authorized to do and the force used is necessary for that purpose.  See section 25, Criminal Code . The Crown has the evidentiary burden of establishing that section 25 of the Code has been met when it relies on the provision to justify the use of force.  The Crown must therefore prove that the officer: (i)              was required or authorized by law to perform the action, that the officer undertook, in the administration or enforcement of the law; (ii)            acted on reasonable grounds in performing the action; and (iii)           did not use unnecessary force. The use of more force than necessary gives rise to both criminal and civil liability. Section 26 of the Criminal Code, which is to be read with section 25, imposes criminal responsibility on those authorized by law to use force where the force used is e