Beacon Hill Park trust conditions and an ICBC employee sells personal information to drug deals who use it to attack the homes of police officers
As a result of the City of Victoria deciding not to enforce a bylaw that prohibits camping in Beacon Hill Park, 78 structures have been erected in the park. Following weeks of complaints from nearby residents, and other people wishing to use the park, the City of Victoria obtained an interim injunction requiring people living in the park to remove the structures form portions of the park that are environmentally sensitive, or of cultural significance. The Friends of Beacon Hill Pa...
30 Heinä 202023min
Resuming jury trials during COVID-19, time limits for police seized evidence, and a Sidney cannabis licence in court
Jury trials have proven to be the most challenging parts of the justice system in the age of COVID-19. The Court of Appeal has been conducting appeals using Zoom. The Provincial Court has been conducting sentencing and judicial interim release hearings by telephone conference. Both the Provincial Court, and the Supreme Court, have been utilizing video connections for witnesses, and relatively simple modifications to courtrooms have permitted safe in-person trials to resume. The challeng...
23 Heinä 202022min
Legal requirements for the police to arrest or detain someone, and AG consent required to prosecute an offence on an international flight
This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: When are the police permitted to arrest or detain someone? In the context of discussions concerning unbiased policing and identification checks, various common circumstances that do permit a police officer to arrest or detain someone are discussed: 1) If they have reasonable grounds to believe they have committed a criminal offence. 2) If they have reasonable grounds to believe someone is about to commit an offence...
16 Heinä 202022min
Children allowed to ride the bus alone, an aboriginal man sentenced to 12 months for marijuana and an ICBC COVID-19 backlog
This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: The British Columbia Court of Appeal finds that the Director of Child, Family and Community Services acted unreasonably, and without authority, in telling a single father that children under 10 years of age could not ride the public bus without supervision. The children that were riding the public bus together, to get to school, were 10, 9, 8 and 7 years old. The father had spent two years teaching his children how to use the public b...
9 Heinä 202021min
Uber arbitration clause unconscionable, a class action over a price fixing conspiracy, and a costs award for a protracted taxation
This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: The Supreme Court of Canada has declared an arbitration clause, used by Uber, to be unconscionable, and therefore invalid. The clause, included in a 14-page agreement that prospective Uber drivers were required to click “I accept” on, twice, purported to require any disputes with Uber to be dealt with by arbitration, in the Netherlands, rather than going to court. While not specified in the 14-page agreement, it turned out that ...
3 Heinä 202021min
BC overdose deaths more than double COVID-19 deaths since March, new legislation to detain youth for stabilization, to permit electronic wills and for no fault ICBC insurance
This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: From March to May 2020, the number of people who have died as a result of drug overdoses in British Columbia has been more than double the number of people who have died from COVID-19: 401 vs 164. January COVID-19 deaths: 0 Overdose deaths: 77 February COVID-19 deaths: 0 Overdose deaths: 76 March COVID-19 deaths: 24 Overdose deaths: 113 April COVID-19 deaths: 87 Overdose deaths: 118 May COVID-19 deaths:...
26 Kesä 202022min
SCC on breaches of bail and social host liability for parents hosting a teenage house party with alcohol
This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: In a recent decision the Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed that when someone is arrested and charged with an offence, the presumption is that they should be released without the imposition of any conditions. Any conditions of release that are imposed must be clearly articulated, minimal in number, necessary, reasonable, the least onerous in the circumstances, and sufficiently linked to the accused’s risks regarding the statutory grounds ...
18 Kesä 202021min
Conservation officer improperly fired for refusing to kill bear cubs, legal protections for police officers in Canada, and refusing to allow a lawyer unreasonable
In 2015 a BC conservation officer was dismissed from his position for refusing to kill two bear cubs. Initially, the conservation officer didn’t have the assistance of a lawyer and the issue of his dismissal was dealt with by a union representative and the Labour Relations Board. Eventually, the conservation officer retained a lawyer who identified that conservation officers are peace officers and issues relating to their discipline or dismissal need to be dealt with pursuant to t...
11 Kesä 202022min
