By Sarah Rae

You have the right to remain silent: local lawyer instructs residents of their rights

Sep 29, 2016 | 6:54 AM

A group of lawyers and social service workers in the Battlefords and area are making an effort to educate the public about their rights within the justice system.

Lawyer Benedict Feist led a presentation at the North Battleford Public Library on Wednesday night, Sept. 28 about a citizen’s rights, particularly when arrested. He and others working on the new Battlefords Community Justice Initiative want to start a conversation.

“There’s just a lack of understanding there for a lot of people about how the system works and their rights in any situation, having to deal with being in court and how to navigate the legal process; it’s very complex,” he said.

Some of his points included the right to remain silent and access to legal counsel, understanding your reasons for being arrested or detained, and the right to refuse police searches in certain cases.

Feist said people are often pushed through the system and aren’t given much information about their rights and advice about how to navigate the justice system.

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“I’ve been at law school and articling for four years now and I’m still learning stuff every time I deal with a criminal case, so I can’t imagine what it would be like to be twelve years younger than me and be going through all this for the first time with the risk added of personally going to jail on top of all that,” he said. “It’s just good for people to have the information and I hope that we can get more people involved and just get more awareness out in the community for these sorts of issues.”

He said he hopes to do more similar presentations to other audiences, including high schools, and the group plans to publish some materials and start a social media campaign to educate the public.

Sarah Rae is battlefordsNOW’s court and crime reporter. She can be reached at Sarah.Rae@jpbg.ca or tweet her @sarahjeanrae.