Charges of obstructing a peace officer<\/strong> are increasingly common: filmed interventions, arrests on the street, gatherings, and traffic stops that escalate. A gesture made in the heat of the moment can lead to a criminal charge and a criminal record.<\/p>\n A person commits an offence who:<\/p>\n Filming a police intervention is permitted, as long as you do not interfere with the officers’ work. Generally speaking, refusing to answer police officers’ questions is exercising your right to silence, not obstructing them.<\/p>\n Obstruction can be prosecuted by summary conviction or by indictment. The maximum penalty can be up to 2 years of imprisonment<\/strong>. If force was used against the police officer, a more serious charge of assaulting a peace officer may be added.<\/p>\n The prosecution must prove that the police officer was acting lawfully<\/strong> in the execution of their duties and that you acted wilfully<\/strong> to obstruct them. An unlawful arrest, a lack of intent or contradictory evidence (videos, witnesses) can lead to an acquittal. Since there is no minimum sentence, a discharge may also be considered depending on the circumstances, which avoids a criminal record.<\/p>\n Also read: Assault: Simple, with a Weapon and Aggravated<\/a> and Avoiding a Criminal Record Through a Discharge<\/a><\/p>\n Every case is different. Our lawyers analyze your situation and explain your options. In criminal matters, acting quickly often makes a difference.<\/p>\n Montreal area: 514 990-7884<\/a> See also: Criminal Charges<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Written by Antonio Alvarez, Lawyer<\/strong> Charges of obstructing a peace officer are increasingly common. What section 129 says, what does not amount to obstruction, the penalties and the defences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7272,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[263,264],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-criminal","category-information-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solutionticket.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solutionticket.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solutionticket.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solutionticket.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solutionticket.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8174"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.solutionticket.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8836,"href":"https:\/\/www.solutionticket.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8174\/revisions\/8836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solutionticket.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solutionticket.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solutionticket.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solutionticket.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What section 129 of the Criminal Code provides<\/h2>\n
\n
Concrete examples<\/h2>\n
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What is not obstruction<\/h2>\n
Possible penalties<\/h2>\n
Defences<\/h2>\n
Need a criminal law lawyer?<\/h2>\n
Other regions of Quebec: 1 877 990-7884<\/a><\/p>\nSee also<\/h2>\n
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