Sometimes referred to as "the castle principle", the origins of the phrase “a man’s home is his castle” can be traced back to the English case Semayne's Case, which discusses sheriffs entering a house to seize goods.
A Supreme Court of Canada Case that refers to the Semayne Case and deals with the same issues is R. v. Colet. This case concerns a property owner refusing entry to police with a warrant to seize firearms.
References
- Semayne's Case, [1604] 77 E.R. 194 – onsite at Courthouse Libraries and through HeinOnline
- R. v. Colet, [1981] 1 S.C.R. 2