The Hook

The Supreme Court of Canada says people whose charter rights are breached can win damages, even if there was no misbehaviour on the part of the authorities. The high court unanimously upheld $5,000 in damages given to Alan Cameron Ward, a Vancouver lawyer who was strip-searched in 2002 when he was wrongly suspected of plotting to pie then-prime minister Jean Chretien.

The 9-0 decision sets out a framework for when damages should be allowed, and how big the damages should be.

"I conclude that damages may be awarded for charter breach . . . where appropriate and just,'' Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote in her ruling.

"The first step in the inquiry is to establish that a charter right has been breached. The second step is to show why damages are a just and appropriate remedy, having regard to whether they would fulfil one or more of the related functions of compensation, vindication of the right, and or deterrence of future breaches.

"At the third step, the state has the opportunity to demonstrate, if it can, that countervailing factors defeat the functional considerations that support a damage award and render damages inappropriate or unjust. The final step is to assess the quantum of the damages.''

She said damages have to be proportional to the seriousness of the breach and overturned a $100 judgment given to Ward to compensate for having his car towed as part of the police investigation.

Ward was also given $5,000 for false imprisonment, but that wasn't at issue in the case.

The ruling marks the first time the high court looked at monetary damages for violations of rights. It means that people whose rights have been infringed can seek damages even if they suffered no actual loss and even if the authorities acted in good faith.

The damages are meant to compensate for "physical, psychological and pecuniary" loss, as well as distress, humiliation and embarrassment.

Such damages also act as a deterrent to further breaches of charter rights, the ruling explained.

But the ruling also sets out ways to make sure the country's courts aren't overrun with claimants arguing for money for every little thing.

"The state may establish that an award of charter damages would interfere with good governance such that damages should not be awarded unless the state conduct meets a minimum threshold of gravity," McLachlin writes.

Ward was arrested because he partly fit the description of a man suspected of planning the pie attack. Police took him to jail, where he was strip-searched. His car was towed. He was never charged and was released after about four and a half hours.

He subsequently sued the city and the province of British Columbia for violations of his rights.

The trial judge found that the police had acted in good faith and that there was no abuse of power. But he still ordered the city to pay damages of $5,000 for false imprisonment and $100 for the search of the car.

The province was ordered to pay $5,000 for the strip search. All parties appealed the decision, with the city and the province seeking to overturn the awards and Ward asking for higher damages.

The British Columbia Court of Appeal upheld the damages in a 2-1 decision.

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