The novel decision was made when 19-year-old Christopher McKay disregarded the police station’s telephone, the Yellow Pages and directory assistance as not being a ‘viable search engine’, reports Web Pro News.

Internet access

Mr McKay - who was detained for possible driving under the influence – was asked in court how he would have found legal counsel if given the choice, and he replied ‘Google’.
The Alberta court agreed he should be allowed to search for a lawyer in his preferred manner and allowed him access to a computer.

Legal counsel

‘The Crown says that the police do not have any duty in law to provide access to the internet for detainees when there is no specific request to access the internet. The Court disagrees,’ the court said in the ruling. ‘In the Court’s view, in the year 2013 police providing access to the internet is part of a detainee’s reasonable opportunity to contact legal counsel. This is so even whether counsel of choice is not an issue and the accused is simply seeking general information from a source such as Google.’
According to the report, the court also found that a simple Google search returned a wealth of viable options with more up to date information than that found in directories.