Mainville, Baudouin, Bachand

The Court’s judgment rules on an appeal and an incidental appeal from a judgment rendered on June 16, 2022 by the Superior Court, which struck down certain provisions of the Regulation respecting the conduct of the investigations of the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes that were enacted under the Police Act and pertain to investigations conducted by the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (“BEI”) with respect to police officers involved in a death or in serious injuries that occurred during a police intervention.

The Court concludes that an investigation conducted by the BEI is essentially a criminal investigation conducted by a police force. As such, the police officer involved, who is the subject of the investigation, is entitled to the common law protections governing the criminal law as well as those under s. 7 of the Canadian Charter, which guarantee, among other things, the right to life, liberty and security of the person.

In this context, the Court confirms the Superior Court finding that the obligation imposed on a police officer to submit to the BEI an account of the occurrence in which he was personally involved infringes his right against self-incrimination. Like the Superior Court, the Court concludes that, while the police officer involved has the obligation to draw up an account, he does not have the obligation to submit it to the BEI investigators, although he may do so voluntarily.

The Court also confirms the Superior Court finding that, given the right of the police officer involved to remain silent within the scope of an investigation involving him personally, the regulatory provisions obliging such a police officer to meet with the BEI investigators do not include an obligation for him to answer the investigators’ questions. Moreover, at the start of the meeting, the BEI investigators must caution the police officer involved of his right to remain silent.

The Court also finds that the other regulatory requirements pertaining to BEI investigations are constitutional, including the obligation for witness police officers to draw up an account of the occurrence and submit it to the BEI, the obligation for witness police officers and the police officers involved to withdraw from the scene, as well as the priority given to BEI investigations over other police investigations.

Text of the decision: http://citoyens.soquij.qc.ca