ERTW

OTTAWA–The Supreme Court of Canada, in a 6-3 decision, broke new legal ground yesterday by ruling suspects can sue police investigators for negligence in cases of shoddy detective work.

In a judgment that said police officers are not immune from civil liability, the court set its eyes squarely on combating wrongful convictions and institutional racism, requiring police to face the same legal consequences as other professionals who fail in their public duties.

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/263898

Do you guys think this is a way of truly holding police more accountable, or just a move that will bring us closer to the civil lawsuit chaos that the US is dealing with?

RDub

it should make them be more accountable for the job that they're doing but in reality there willl always be people to take advantage of it..

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

6-3 decision? i would have thought it would be closer to unanimous for the yes side. it's pretty clear that no one should be above the law, doctors and lawyers and accountants are held accountable for their responsibility to do their job, why not cops?

ERTW

because our law system says that employers are vicariously responsible for their employees. Thus, if a cop assaults you while on duty, you can always (and have been able in the past) launch a civil lawsuit against the police force and collect damages that way.

this decision is not unanimous since it allows you to file a civil lawsuit against the police officer directly. it is kind of bending the law.

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

I'm not acquainted with our civil law all that well. In the past I had always assumed you could sue anyone you wanted to for causing you damages. Problem with Canada is the monies awarded in a civil suit are generally limited to financial loss only, which in most cases isn't a large enough sum to justify the cost of the lawsuit anyways. They really should make it easier to sue IMO, like civil law should just be covered by your municipal taxes (so like a civil legal-aid system). cuz then you still have to invest all your time and stuff... like if my landlord screwed me, I'd love to sue him, but at the present time the cost of the lawsuit would outweigh the money I stand to collect from him.