Replay live chat: What are your rights? - G20: Street Level - Action News
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Replay live chat: What are your rights? - G20: Street Level

Replay live chat: What are your rights?

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A pair of protesters huddle amidst a line of riot police on Saturday, June 26, 2010. (Submitted by warphotographer)

By Your Voice Team, CBC News

The G20 summit in Toronto may be over, but questions linger about police reaction to the protests that were at times peaceful, and on occasion, as a result of splinter groups, chaotic and violent.

Damage in parts of the city included burned police vehicles, smashed bank windows and vandalized storefronts. More than 900 people were arrested during the protests over the weekend.

Toronto police Chief Bill Blair said he expects that almost 400 of those arrested "will be held accountable."  But the Integrated Security Unit has faced fierce criticism from protesters, independent journalists and civil liberties groups.

While Blair recently announced a police internal review that will scrutinize law enforcement's tactics over the weekend, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association is calling for a public inquiry into the police response, describing it as "disproportionate," "arbitrary" and "excessive."

Amnesty International Canada also decried what it calls the heavy police presence around the protests and called for an independent review of police.

Jamesmorton.jpgCBC News spoke with James Morton, adjunct professor in York University's Osgoode Hall Law School and former president of the Ontario Bar Association, about individual rights in a situation like the G20 protests and the power of police in those circumstances.

Morton is a partner with the firm Steinberg Morton Hope & Israel LLP in Toronto.

In a recent editorial for the Ottawa Citizen, Morton calls the police actions in Toronto "justified and legal."

To learn more about the legalities surrounding your right to assembly and what charges the detainees may be facing, replay the live discussion below where Morton took your questions on charter rights during a protest.



Related: Civil liberties in Toronto's streets
Related: Toronto police to review G20 tactics
Related: G20 police actions prompt call for inquiry

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