The Legal Definition of “Exigent Circumstances” has come through common law. However, when the “Feeney” provisions were drafted for the Criminal Code, the lawmakers recognized in statute law the common law definition of exigent circumstances. So, although the statutory definition technically applies to the “Feeney” provisions of the criminal code in reality it codifies the common law definition that is applied generally in law.
Exigent circumstances
529.3(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), exigent circumstances include circumstances in which the peace officer
- (a) has reasonable grounds to suspect that entry into the dwelling-house is necessary to prevent imminent bodily harm or death to any person; or
- (b) has reasonable grounds to believe that evidence relating to the commission of an indictable offence is present in the dwelling-house and that entry into the dwelling-house is necessary to prevent the imminent loss or imminent destruction of the evidence.