Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: An analysis of various policy proposals the BC United Party issued concerning the criminal justice system. The proposals include hiring additional police and Crown, ending the decriminalization of drugs, funding body cameras for all police, opening more courts, and pursuing civil claims against people who traffic drugs that cause death.  Follow...

An application to find a union in civil contempt for breaching an injunction against making noise while picketing at three Vancouver Airport Hotels failed because of the wording of the injunction, which only prohibited noise above 75bBA if made by various specified devices. The evidence demonstrated that the noise was above the prohibited threshold but not if it was produced by specifically prohib...

Most criminal offences in Canada involve prohibitions on doing things that would harm others.  It is rare that the criminal law will require someone to do something. An exception to this is the offence of failing to provide the necessities of life. It is a criminal offence for a list of people, including parents, foster parents, and spouses to not provide the necessities of life. It also requires...

What if you found yourself at the receiving end of a judicial system, prosecuted for a fatal accident with no evidence of intoxication, excessive speeding, or aggressive driving? This is the tragic reality for a 21-year-old driver with no history of bad driving or criminal record, facing a heart-wrenching sentencing decision. Join us as we unravel this case with Michael Mulligan,  with Mulligan De...

The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld the double murder conviction for a  man who insisted on representing himself at trial. He was so disruptive that the trial judge removed him from the courtroom multiple times and then shut off his microphone on the closed video connection he had to the courtroom. The accused in the case would not ask questions of witnesses or make submissions and would, inste...

Starting in 2012, the Gabriola Island Local Trust started a legal effort to have an elderly couple remove a seawall that protects their waterfront property because it was less than 30 meters from the ocean. At a trial of the matter, the Gabriola Island Local Trust lost the case because the judge concluded there was a common-law right to protect property from erosion. The Island Trust didn't l...

The episode begins by discussing the decision to discontinue a prosecution arising from a  Nanaimo business owner who gets shot after trying to retrieve his stolen property from a homeless camp. Crown Counsel has a duty to only approve and proceed with criminal charges where there is a substantial likelihood of conviction.  In the case involving the business owner who was shot while attempting to...

In British Columbia, it's illegal to produce milk and sell it to anyone other than the Milk Marketing Board. The Milk Marketing Board sets wholesale prices, intended to guarantee a profit for milk farmers, and sets quotas for how much milk a farmer can sell. Farmers who produce more milk than their quota can be required to dump it down the drain. As a result of this system, consumers in Briti...

Do you ever wonder what happens when a small claims lawsuit is baseless? Unlike in Supreme Court, judges cannot award costs to the successful party in Small Claims Court. Costs are intended to both cover some of the legal and other expenses related to a court case. They can also encourage the settlement of meritorious claims and discourage needless litigation.  There is, however, a Small Claims Co...

For most of Canada's history, vagrancy was a criminal offence. While the wording of the vagrancy laws changed from time to time. As of 1972, there were two different forms of vagrancy. The first form of vagrancy made it a criminal offence to beg or be found in a public place without apparent means of support. The second form of vagrancy prohibited people convicted of sexual offences from loit...

Do you know the ins and outs of the Residential Tenancy Act? Join us for an enlightening conversation with Barrister and Solicitor Michael Mulligan as we uncover a recent court decision involving changes to BC's residential tenancy legislation and how an elderly landlord diagnosed with cancer almost found himself responsible for paying former tenants $34,180. The elderly landlord had his son...

A man who denied being a human being or being subject to laws turned a wrestling match with RCMP officers into a year in jail for contempt of court following days of nonsense arguments, interruptions, and refusals to behave in court. Find out more as I tackle the case of Rex vs. A Man Known as Cameron Hardy, and explore the bizarre "Free Man on the Land" theory, which suggests that one i...

Can you really sue a judge if you're wrongfully convicted? This episode unpacks the intriguing case of a man who attempted to do just that after his conviction was overturned. We dive into the legal constraints surrounding this scenario and examine Lord Denning's view that judges should be able to make decisions without fear of personal liability. Join our analysis of the limits of a jud...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: What does Canada's Bill C-48 mean for the future of the bail system, and does it truly address the issue of crime and social disorder? Join us for an eye-opening conversation with Michael Mulligan of Mulligan Defense Lawyers as we dissect the implications of this controversial bill and the reverse onus provision it introduces. We'll ex...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: What's the secret to unlocking more housing supply in municipalities like Oak Bay, Victoria, and Sanich? Today, we uncover the implications of BC Government's Housing Supply Act and what it means for these targeted municipalities. We discuss the process that the government will undergo to set housing targets, including the appointment...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: Only a tiny percentage of contracts ever end up in court. This is because contracts are intended to be agreements both parties wish to enter. If, for example, you agree to purchase a home from someone, both you and the seller presumably want to buy and sell the home for an agreed price. Nobody is required to force the home sale to complete as ag...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: The Supreme Court of Canada has created a new, very high hurdle for a judge to dismiss applications in criminal cases summarily without allowing the party making the application to call evidence. The case that gave rise to the issue involved an application for a stay of proceedings brought by two men found guilty of six murder charges. The trial...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: In 2013, a 28-year-old babysitter, and mother of four, was charged with murder when a 19-month-old drowned in a bathtub. The case against her was based on the opinion of a pathologist who alleged that “there is no benign explanation” for injuries sustained by the child and that the child had “extensive bruising” that is “typical of abused childr...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: For many years, the BC government has paid all lawyers working for it on the same basis as contracts negotiated by the union representing Crown Counsel. Recently the government decided to stop doing this. That decision likely increased support for the rest of the lawyers to sign up to join the BC Government Lawyers Association: 75% did so. The B...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: A third charge approval review, ordered by David Eby, comes to the same conclusion as the first two: there is no basis for money laundering charges arising from a large RCMP investigation into cash or casino chips being provided to high-stakes Chinese gamblers. A long-running public inquiry, also ordered by Mr. Eby, revealed that high-stakes gam...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: Unlike in the United States, where property rights are constitutionally protected, there is no similar protection in the Canadian Charter. Various provinces, including British Columbia, have set up civil forfeiture regimes that permit property to be seized absent any criminal conviction. Civil forfeiture can occur based on a civil standard of a...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: Following 7 days of hearings, with 79 pages of notices of application, responses to applications, and pleadings, 13 affidavits totalling more than 500 pages, 67 authorities, and over 90 pages of written submissions, a BC Supreme Court Judge has concluded that the District of Central Saanich did not have authority, pursuant to its Tree Protection...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: A University of Victoria instructor pleaded guilty to criminal contempt for blocking a road by chaining himself to a log. Other people who had been convicted in similar circumstances have been sentenced to a period of probation with 100 hours of community work service. Following the man's arrest, his bag, containing $1605 of his camping gea...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: In response to political pressure resulting from public disorder and random assaults of strangers, BC Premier Eby announced several policy changes, including some amendments to the Crown Counsel Policy Manual concerning bail. Much of the social disorder and irrational, random assaults of strangers in urban centres are rooted in the increase in h...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: British Columbia has had inadequate legal aid funding for family and poverty law cases for many years. In 1992 the NDP government imposed a special tax on legal services to fund legal aid. Anyone who hires a lawyer pays this special 7% tax that applies to no other professional services. In 2002 the Liberal government of the day cut legal aid fun...