What are legal rights in the Charter?

Legal rights in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms are protected by sections 7 to 14, which together set out the constitutional framework for the treatment of any person facing the criminal justice system. Section 7 protects life, liberty, and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice. Section 8 guarantees freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. Section 9 protects against arbitrary detention or imprisonment.

Section 10 sets out the rights of any person on arrest or detention: to be informed promptly of the reasons for the arrest, to retain and instruct counsel without delay, to be informed of that right, and to challenge the lawfulness of the detention by way of habeas corpus. Section 11 lists 9 rights of any person charged with an offence including the right to be informed of the offence, the right to be tried within a reasonable time (R. v. Jordan, 2016, set ceilings of 18 and 30 months), the right not to be compelled to be a witness in the proceedings, the presumption of innocence, the right to bail, the right to a jury trial for offences punishable by five years or more, and the right not to be tried twice for the same offence.

Section 12 protects against any cruel and unusual treatment or punishment. The Supreme Court of Canada applied section 12 in R. v. Smith (1987) to strike down mandatory minimum sentences for narcotics importation, and more recently in R. v. Nur (2015), R. v. Lloyd (2016), and R. v. Bissonnette (2022) to strike down mandatory minimum sentences for various firearms offences and consecutive parole ineligibility for multiple murders. Section 13 protects against compelled self-incrimination using evidence given by the witness in another proceeding. Section 14 guarantees the right to an interpreter for any party or witness who does not understand or speak the language of the proceedings or who is deaf.

Legal rights apply to everyone in Canada, not just citizens. The Supreme Court has held that the framework applies to immigration detention (Charkaoui v. Canada, 2007), refugee determination (Canadian Council for Refugees v. Canada, 2023), and extradition (United States v. Burns, 2001, prohibiting extradition without assurances against the death penalty). Section 24 of the Charter provides remedies, including the exclusion of unconstitutionally obtained evidence under section 24(2) where its admission would bring the administration of justice into disrepute (R. v. Grant, 2009).