A car dealership liable for an accident, ICBC unfairness, and a builder's lien
This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: In August of 2018, two sisters were walking their dogs on Central Saanich Road in Saanich BC when a vehicle struck them. One of the women, and her dog, were killed. The other woman survived with devastating injuries. The woman who survived spent a year in the hospital. Her injuries included broken ribs, a spinal injury, and damage to an eye. Most significantly, however, was a traumatic brain injury. She now has a severe impairment of s...
14 Jul 202222min
Deck litigation, an estate without a will, and criminal jury trials almost back to normal
This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: Twenty-five years ago, a man and his family moved into a home they had built in the Highlands with only a temporary occupancy permit. A final occupancy permit was never obtained, and the lack of compliance was noted on title. As his wife passed away and his children had moved out, the homeowner decided it was time to sell the home. The homeowner hired a contractor to complete some repairs including work on some badly weathered decks. T...
30 Jun 202222min
A murder conviction appeal, a ban on publication of disclosure material and a drug conviction appeal
This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: An appeal in a criminal case does not involve asking the judges hearing the appeal to retry the case. It’s a review of what took place at the original trial. The Court of Appeal can allow an appeal if the verdict at trial was unreasonable and not supported by the evidence, if there was a wrong decision made by a trial judge on a question of law, or if there was a miscarriage of justice. When a trial is decided by a judge without a jury,...
24 Jun 202222min
Bill C-21 unintended consequences, no fault and a highway blockade injury and a search warrant quashed
This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: Bill C-21 proposes various amendments to the Criminal Code and Firearms Act to restrict gun ownership. One part of the legislation is a proposal to freeze the sale or transfer of handguns. This has already had the unintended consequence of causing handgun sales to skyrocket in anticipation of the possibility of sales being stopped. As currently drafted Bill C-21 includes other provisions that would have unintended consequences. These i...
16 Jun 202221min
An ex-wife attempt to get control over a trust and a financial advisor claims a marriage-like relationship with a client
This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: When the divorced father of an adult child with learning disabilities was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he established a trust with $750,000 to provide for his son following his death. As he had been through an acrimonious divorce, the father was concerned that his ex-wife did not get access to the funds for her own purposes. To prevent this the father made his two sisters trustees with broad discretion to use the funds to assist his s...
9 Jun 202223min
150 years or parole ineligibility cruel and unusual and a credit card class action settlement
The week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: The Supreme Court of Canada has found that making people ineligible to even apply for parole for 150 years is cruel and unusual punishment. In 1967 Canada repealed the Criminal Code provisions that allowed people convicted of murder to be put to death by hanging, except in the case of on-duty police officers and prison guards. These last exceptions were finally repealed in 1976. The death penalty provisions for murder were replaced by m...
2 Jun 202222min
The right to a trial in English or French and the BC Legislative Clerk not guilty of most charges
This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: Section 530 of the Criminal Code provides a right to a trial in either English or French. It also requires a judge or justice “before whom an accused first appears” to inform accused people of this right. If someone requests a trial in French or English no later than the time set for their trial, it is mandatory that this be provided. If a request is made later, a judge has discretion, but this is required to be exercised in a permissive...
26 Mai 202223min
Automatism, Horizontal stare decisis, and ICBC No Fault in the BCCA
This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: Criminal offences require two things, often described with Latin names: actus reus and mens rea. Actus reus is an intentional physical act. Mens rea is a guilty mind. We don’t wish to convict people for physical acts that were not intentional: crashing your car when you have a heart attack or tripping and falling into someone else would not be criminal offences, even if someone else was injured. We also don’t want to convict people who...
20 Mai 202222min
