Arrest: Failure to Respond to Police Questions


The failure of an individual to respond to police questioning, when there is no legal obligation for him/her to respond, cannot constitute part of the grounds for an arrest.

To consider the failure to respond – that is, silence – as a factor supporting arrest would be to extract a price for the exercise of a constitutional right.

R. v. Gonzales, 2017 ONCA 543, at para. 105.

Stuart O'Connell, O'Connell Law Group, leadersinlaw.ca

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