Does an arresting officer need to establish that the accused has no defence to the charge of assault before making an arrest?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from City of Vancouver (Re), 2013 BCSC 92 (CanLII):

An arresting officer does not need to establish that the accused has no valid defence to the charge before making an arrest. Moreover, an arresting officer is not required to obtain the accused’s version of events before being able to form reasonable and probable grounds. Similarly, an arresting officer is not required to assess the validity of competing versions of events before being able to form reasonable and probable grounds: Wyles v. Ontario (Police Complaints Commissioner), [1997] O.J. No. 6274 (Div. Ct.).

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