Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan

In British Columbia witnesses who are testifying in court are required to choose between swearing a religious oath, or making an affirmation, to tell the truth.  Children under 14 are only asked to promise to tell the truth.  The origin of oaths, to tell the truth, was a belief that divine retribution would visit those who lied under oath.  While witnesses are not told they have the option to swea...

With Saanich schools closed for a third week as a result of a strike, 2019 amendments to the Labour Relations Code are discussed. These amendments removed a specific provision that declared “the provision of educational programs for students and eligible children under the School Act” to be an essential service. This change was an example of the labour relations changes made each time the NDP is e...

After almost two weeks Saanich schools are still closed as a result of a strike by support staff. Support staff are seeking a wage increase to match other school districts. The support staff ended up with lower salaries as a result of past contracts that provided for greater benefits, instead of larger salary increases.  The Saanich School District has offered all of the money they are permitted t...

Canada, and British Columbia, have a very unfortunate history of racist legislation intended to restrict Chinese immigration. This includes the Chinese Immigration Act (1885), which imposed a head tax, the Opium Act (1908) which was passed following anti-Asian riots in 1907 that involved destruction in Vancouver’s Chinatown as well as Japanese neighbourhoods, and the Chinese Immigration Act (1923)...

A new BC Supreme Court policy concerning bans on publication, and closed courtrooms, permits automatic notification of applications for the media as well as a web site listing publication bans, to make it easier to determine if there is a publication ban is in place. Judicial Recounts : what is required for an automatic, or discretionary, judicial recount, and how the recount proceeds when one is...

Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan Diplomatic Immunity – The wife of a US diplomat killed a British teenager in a car accident but was able to avoid prosecution and leave the UK as a result of diplomatic immunity. Topics discussed include the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and how this is implemented in Canada . Other related issued include diplomats not having to pay parking ticket...

Legally Speaking with Victoria Lawyer Michael Mulligan on CFAX 1070. A new Supreme Court of Canada case, Fleming v. Ontario , concluded that the police did not have the authority to arrest a protester who was carrying a Canadian flag and walking down the road, in order to avert a possible, future, disruption. The police officers and the province of Ontario claimed that the police were authorized t...

Legally Speaking with Victoria Lawyer Michael Mulligan on CFAX 1070 Issues discussed include overrides of federal prisoner security classifications which result in inmates classified as medium security, being transferred to minimum security institutions. This was an issue recently as a result of two inmates escaping from the William Head Institution, which is a minimum-security facility, despite h...

Legally Speaking with Victoria Lawyer Michael Mulligan on CFAX 1070 Issues discussed include jury deliberations, sequestration, the fact that the substance of jury deliberations are secret in Canada, what information is included in a charge to the jury, information not provided to the jury, including the possible sentence if there is a conviction, and how judges deal with jury questions or cases w...

The British Columbia Director of Civil Forfeiture ordered to return $2 million in cash that was seized as part of the largest money-laundering case in BC history, due to misconduct at an ex parte hearing. The decision can be found here and the reasons on the original ex parte hearing here . "The Court must take the misconduct very seriously, because misleading statements in an ex parte hearin...

CFAX 1070 60th Anniversary Special - retrospective on 60 years of CFAX 1070 in Victoria, BC and themes from past episodes including legal aid funding and the importance of meaningful explanations of legal issues and decisions. Legally Speaking is live in CFAX 1070 every Thursday at 10:30. Michael Mulligan is a lawyer at Mulligan Defence Lawyers in Victoria, BC, Canada.