Do police have grounds for arrest if the culprit does not know what they did was wrong?

Question

My 15 year old sister was caught drinking in public a few months back and tried to run.. unsuccessfuly. Anyways, apparently, one of her rules she had to follow was that she could not hang out with the particular friend she was caught with. This was not made clear at all, they even did their community hours together which the Justice system itself organized. Did the police have right, under Canadian law, to detain her over night for being caught hanging out with her friend? They had spent 8 hours of that day together volunteering at a day camp for kids.

Answer 1

At age 15, she's old enough to read and understand her probation orders and EXACTLY what they mean.  She's also old enough to tell Community Work Program crew she's not allowed to be near her co-participant who's also working that day  (Different people usually put the crews together, so wouldn't necessarily know there's a stay-away order in place... that's HER job!!), and she's certainly old enough to know she's not allowed to just "hang out" with her friend.  The Terms and Conditions of her probation were reviewed in Court with her and were reviewed with her a second time when she first met with her probation officer.  

Stop makes excuses for her.  The more you do that, the longer she's going to get into trouble.  

Answer 2

Sorry, that was a very stupid question.  She cannot hang out with her friend and your sister knows her probation conditions....  You can blame the police for your sister being an incorrigible brat, but they didn't create the problem, they simply have to DEAL with it!

Answer 3

Ignorance may be bliss, but ignorance of the law is not an excuse.  

Answer 4

Ignorance of the law is no excuse.  Apparently if your 15 year old sister was running she knew da#@ well what she did wrong.

Answer 5

Of course, they had every right! Ignorance of the law is no defense.

Answer 6

Yes. She wasn't "hanging out" with her friend when she did her Community service, she was serving her penalty for breaking the law the first time.