R v Collins
Okay, so imagine you and your friend, let's call him Timmy, are playing together. Now imagine someone else, like your neighbor, is watching you both play, but they don't actually join in.
Now let's say Timmy accidentally breaks something while you two are playing, like a vase in your house or a toy. You might feel upset with Timmy about it, and maybe you even tell your neighbor what happened.
However, if the neighbor tells the police what happened, that's when things get serious. The police might come to your house and ask Timmy questions about the broken item, even if he didn't mean to break it.
This is where R v Collins comes in. It's a real court case that happened in Canada, where a woman named Susan Collins was accused of stealing things from someone else's house. Like with Timmy accidentally breaking the vase, Susan didn't mean to break any rules or hurt anyone, she just made a mistake.
But the police still needed to ask Susan questions to find out what happened. The problem was that they didn't follow the proper rules when they did it. This made Susan's lawyers upset, because they thought the police didn't treat Susan fairly.
So Susan's case went all the way to the top court in Canada, called the Supreme Court. The judges there said that if the police don't follow the proper rules when they investigate someone, then the person's rights might be violated. Just like you might feel upset with Timmy when he breaks something, Susan's lawyers felt upset with the police when they didn't follow the rules.
The important lesson here is that even when people make mistakes or accidentally do something wrong, they still have rights that need to be respected. Just like how you and Timmy need to respect each other when you play together, the police need to respect the rules when they investigate someone.
Now let's say Timmy accidentally breaks something while you two are playing, like a vase in your house or a toy. You might feel upset with Timmy about it, and maybe you even tell your neighbor what happened.
However, if the neighbor tells the police what happened, that's when things get serious. The police might come to your house and ask Timmy questions about the broken item, even if he didn't mean to break it.
This is where R v Collins comes in. It's a real court case that happened in Canada, where a woman named Susan Collins was accused of stealing things from someone else's house. Like with Timmy accidentally breaking the vase, Susan didn't mean to break any rules or hurt anyone, she just made a mistake.
But the police still needed to ask Susan questions to find out what happened. The problem was that they didn't follow the proper rules when they did it. This made Susan's lawyers upset, because they thought the police didn't treat Susan fairly.
So Susan's case went all the way to the top court in Canada, called the Supreme Court. The judges there said that if the police don't follow the proper rules when they investigate someone, then the person's rights might be violated. Just like you might feel upset with Timmy when he breaks something, Susan's lawyers felt upset with the police when they didn't follow the rules.
The important lesson here is that even when people make mistakes or accidentally do something wrong, they still have rights that need to be respected. Just like how you and Timmy need to respect each other when you play together, the police need to respect the rules when they investigate someone.