Several major US telephone companies, including BellSouth, Verizon, and AT&T, have recently begun offering customers the option of using more advanced communication hardware.
Civil Forfeiture and the Standard of Proof
Unlike criminal proceedings, where an accused person must be presumed innocent until proven guilty and only punished once their guilt has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, civil forfeiture proceedings operate on the balance of probabilities, meaning that the state must merely demonstrate that an individual has probably done something illegal in order to obtain forfeiture of their property.
The Right to Counsel in Canada
Section 10(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms preserves the right of a detained individual to contact counsel immediately upon arrest or detention, and simultaneously imposes a duty upon police to immediately inform individuals that they have this right.
The Right to a Speedy Trial in Canada
Section 11(b) of the Charter protects Canadians’ right to a speedy trial, stating that “any person charged with an offence has the right… to be tried within a reasonable time.”
