If you have been detained and strip searched in Quebec anytime since 2006 there could be compensation cash on the horizon for you, as a Superior Court judge has greenlighted a class action suit demanding $1,500 for everybody who went through the humiliating procedure, which involves pulling up your breasts or testicles and allowing agents to look inside your cavities.
The suit was dreamed up after Roger Leonard was arrested on suspicion of burglary in Montreal on July 13, 2006. On the same day three years later Trudel Johnston, a law firm that specializes in class action litigation, filed the papers.
They allege that the strip search violates section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and 24.1 of the Quebec version.
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"The applicant alleges that he felt humiliated and despised in the search. He felt anger and frustration. This search undermined his integrity and dignity, causing him injury. He holds the Attorney General responsible as a representative of the Government of Quebec. He claims $ 1,000 in moral damages and $ 500 in punitive damages," the law firm writes in their claim.
"It's a conservative amount but it's more about the principle," she said, adding that the time is now to submit your name. "Now would definitely be great. We want to hear about it as much as possible about what they've experienced."
She could not say how many people are currently on the list but she expects other names to flow in. The people who get strip searched tend to be suspects of criminal acts. Those arrested in the student demonstrations and other such mass arrests were not subject to strip searches.
The lawyers next meet to set a timeline for the procedures. Cases can sometimes drag on for a decade or so, but they are hoping that this accelerates at a faster pace.
The suit was dreamed up after Roger Leonard was arrested on suspicion of burglary in Montreal on July 13, 2006. On the same day three years later Trudel Johnston, a law firm that specializes in class action litigation, filed the papers.
They allege that the strip search violates section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and 24.1 of the Quebec version.
With the approval for the class action to go ahead, conceivably "tens of thousands" of Quebecers - according to Trudel Johnston lawyer Annabel Busbridge, could be in line to be compensation for human rights abuses that they feel such strip searches represent.
Busbridge told Coolopolis that the $1,500 amount is not set in stone."It's a conservative amount but it's more about the principle," she said, adding that the time is now to submit your name. "Now would definitely be great. We want to hear about it as much as possible about what they've experienced."
She could not say how many people are currently on the list but she expects other names to flow in. The people who get strip searched tend to be suspects of criminal acts. Those arrested in the student demonstrations and other such mass arrests were not subject to strip searches.
The lawyers next meet to set a timeline for the procedures. Cases can sometimes drag on for a decade or so, but they are hoping that this accelerates at a faster pace.