Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan

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 Jul 202023min

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 Jul 202022min

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 Jul 202022min

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 Jul 202021min

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 Jul 202021min

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 Jun 202022min

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 Jun 202021min

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 Jun 202022min