Your Right to Speak With a Lawyer After You Are Arrested: What You Need to Know

Say clearly that you want to speak to a lawyer. If you have one, give the name; if you do not, ask for duty counsel. Police must then give you a reasonable opportunity to make the call and must not question you until you have had it (R v Suberu, 2009 SCC 33).

Once you have told the police that you want to speak to a lawyer, they have a duty to help you contact a lawyer as soon as practicable, and to help you reach a particular lawyer if you name one. While you are trying to contact your lawyer, the police cannot interview you (R v Taylor, 2014 SCC 50; R v Willier, 2010 SCC 37).

If police take on the job of contacting your lawyer, they must be as diligent as you would have been: asking whether you or someone you know has the number, letting you check your phone, and trying the lawyer’s other numbers and website rather than simply leaving one message.

No. That is not true in Canada. You are entitled to a reasonable opportunity to get legal advice, and the police might need to make multiple calls to multiple people to give you one.

Yes, for initial advice. Legal Aid Ontario duty counsel give free legal advice by phone to people who are arrested or detained, 24 hours a day, and police must tell you how to reach them (R v Bartle, [1994] 3 SCR 173).

Yes. Police must give you access to a phone, and a private one, to exercise the right (R v Taylor, 2014 SCC 50).

Except in urgent and dangerous circumstances, police must give your lawyer a reasonable time to call back, depending on the seriousness of the charge and the urgency of the investigation. After that you are entitled to call a different lawyer or speak to duty counsel (Willier, para. 35).

Not before a roadside screening test, which must be done immediately (Criminal Code s. 320.27; R v Breault, 2023 SCC 9). If you are arrested or taken for a breath test at the station, police must give you a reasonable opportunity to call a lawyer first.

A failure to provide a breath sample after police have made reasonable attempts to put you in contact with a lawyer can lead to a separate charge under s. 320.15 of the Criminal Code, with the same penalties as impaired driving.

Not as of right for an adult. The Charter does not require a lawyer to be present during the interview, though police can agree to it (R v Sinclair, 2010 SCC 35). A young person has the right to consult a lawyer and a parent and to make any statement in their presence (Youth Criminal Justice Act, s. 146).

Not until you have had a reasonable opportunity to speak to one. After that, they can question you, even if you say you do not want to talk. You still do not have to answer (R v Singh, 2007 SCC 48; R v McCrimmon, 2010 SCC 36).

Only if circumstances change: a new procedure such as a line-up or polygraph, a more serious charge, signs that you did not understand the advice, or police undermining your lawyer’s advice (Sinclair; R v Dussault, 2022 SCC 16; R v Lafrance, 2022 SCC 32).

Yes. You must be “reasonably diligent”: keep telling the police you want your lawyer and suggest how they can reach them. If you are not, the police can stop trying and begin questioning you or insist on breath samples.

The court can exclude the evidence obtained, such as a statement or breath samples, if admitting it would bring the administration of justice into disrepute (Charter s. 24(2); R v Grant, 2009 SCC 32). It is not automatic.