Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: Recently, small groups of protesters have been intentionally blocking  highways to get attention for their cause and to compel the government to meet various demands. So far, police have exercised restraint and have attempted to  persuade the protesters to move before arresting them. The police are not, however, required to wait any period of ti...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: Mediation efforts to resolve civil or family disputes are typically treated as being confidential and can’t be referred to if the case winds up in court. The reason for this is to permit candid discussions and compromise that result in disputes settling before going to trial. A recent Supreme Court of Canada case considered the admissibility of...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: The approval of COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5 – 11 has resulted in family law disputes between separated parents who disagree about getting their children vaccinated. A number of these cases have now been litigated, across Canada, and the consistent outcome has been for court orders permitting the children to be vaccinated, despite the o...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: There are two kinds of Mischief offences in the Criminal Code:  Mischief, and Public Mischief. Mischief is defined and prohibited by section 430 of the Criminal Code. This section makes it an offence to, amongst other things, damage or destroy property or to interfere with the lawful use, operation or enjoyment of property. This section applies...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: The previous Conservative federal government added numerous mandatory minimum jail sentences to the Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. While they have failed to deter crime, they have contributed to the disproportionate number of indigenous and Black Canadians in jail. Indigenous Canadians represent approximately 5 percent of...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: The BC Court of Appeal recently allowed a sentence appeal by the Crown and converted a two-year conditional sentence, sometimes called house arrest, into a regular jail sentence for a bookkeeper convicted of defrauding her employer. Because the bookkeeper had a previous conviction for similar behaviour and was acting in a position of trust, the...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: The obstruction of roads and highways has become an increasingly common method of protesting various things. As discussed on the show, blocking or obstructing a highway, and in so doing, preventing anyone from doing anything they have a right to do, is a criminal offence pursuant to section 423 (1) (g) of the Criminal Code. The office is punisha...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: More than three days after flooding caused massive damage in BC, the provincial government declared an emergency pursuant to the Emergency Program Act. The emergency declaration lasts for up to 14 days and can be renewed. Pursuant to the authority this affords, the provincial government has restricted travel on damaged highways and has limited c...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: A senior Saanich Police Officer was fired after the Police Complaints Commissioner confirmed a finding that he had committed 14 counts of Deceit as well as Discerptible Conduct and Neglect of Duty for falsifying the recertifications of other officers as Drug Recognition Experts. The fake recertification of other officers as Drug Recognition Expe...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: Who is in jail and why? In Canada, the responsibility for jailing adults is divided between the federal and provincial governments. The federal government is responsible for penitentiaries, where people serve sentences longer than two years. The provinces are responsible for jails for people serving shorter sentences and for people who are in ja...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: The MV Zim Kingston lost 109 containers, near Vancouver Island, containing everything from yoga mats to car parts and chemicals. Some of the containers, and their contents, have been washing up on Vancouver Island beaches.  One of the legal issues raised by this is the legal right to salvage material. With thanks to Darren Williams , an expert i...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: In 2012 the self-defence provisions of the Criminal Code were rewritten.  The new provisions only permit self-defence to apply if the act in question was “reasonable in the circumstances”. When deciding if an act is reasonable in the circumstances, the new section provides a non-exhaustive list of things to be considered by a judge or jury: (a)...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: The BC Court of Appeal, BC Supreme Court, and BC Provincial Court issued a joint release advising that all judges and judicial officers, in all the courts in BC, have received two doses of vaccine for COVID-19.  The courts further advised that, as of November 22, all court staff and all contractors accessing the secure (non-public) areas of cour...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan  The Provincial and Supreme Court in British Columbia recently introduced practice directives requiring lawyers to indicate the proper gender pronoun for themselves, and their clients, before each hearing.  Lawyers have been directed to indicate if they, and the client, wish to be referred to as he/him/his, she/her/hers or they/them/their. This w...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: The mayors of Victoria and Esquimalt, who serve as co-chairs of the Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board, have issued a press release suggesting that to prevent police officers from being assaulted and to reduce criminal activity by mentally ill people, more people should be kept in jail before they have a trial.  In Canada, people are presumed t...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: Some people opposed to the requirement to be vaccinated for COVID-19 to attend non-essential businesses such as restaurants and bars have suggested that they have a right to do these things because of the BC Human Rights Code .  While the BC Human Rights Code does have a provision that precludes discrimination in the provision of service based o...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: Anti-vaccination protesters have been holding up copies of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and arguing that it prohibits restrictions on unvaccinated people entering restaurants, bars, gyms, and other locations.  British Columbia, and several other provinces, are implementing systems to provide digital proof of vaccination against CO...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: Since the beginning of COVID, civil jury trials have been suspended in British Columbia. Unlike criminal jury trials, which are constitutionally required as an option for people facing more than 5 years in jail, there is no similar protection for civil jury trials. While civil jury trials were the norm at the time of confederation, their use has...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: In British Columbia, the Wills, Estates and Succession Act sets out requirements for a will to be valid. These include a requirement that a will be signed by the will-maker as well as two or more witnesses.  In a case discussed on the show, a 76-year-old woman was living in a care facility and provided instructions to her lawyer to draft a new w...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: An increasing number of jurisdictions, including New York, Quebec, France, and Israel are prohibiting people who are not vaccinated for COVID-19 from being in public places where people are in close contact, such as restaurants, bars, concerts, and museums. In Canada, the federal government has announced that it will be providing electronic vacc...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: The former Clerk of the BC Legislative Assembly, Craig James, was successful in having one of the charges he was facing dismissed.  Mr. James was charged on a six-count direct indictment.  To be charged by direct indictment, either the Attorney General or Deputy Attorney General need to provide their consent. When this happens, an accused person...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: The City of New Westminster cancelled a meeting room rental that had been booked by The Redeemed Church of God for a "Youth Conference".  The City of New Westminster has a booking policy that “restricts or prohibits user groups if they promote racism, hate, violence, censorship, crime or unethical pursuits.” Following an email complain...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: A City of Victoria Councillor was caught on video offering money to a tow truck driver and arguing with an RCMP office, in an unsuccessful attempt to dissuade the tow truck driver from removing cars associated with a logging blockade that has been enjoined by a BC Supreme Court injunction.  This activity is discussed in the context of the reason...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: After accepting $40,000 for expenses, a surrogate mother is asking to be declared the mother of a four-year-old, and obtain access to the child, on the basis that she claims to have become pregnant as a result of an affair with the child’s father, rather than through the use of a home artificial insemination kit.  For his part, the father has ad...

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan: In 1976, when Canada eliminated the death penalty for murder, the compromise was a mandatory life sentence for people convicted of murder.  One of the circumstances where mandatory life sentences can result in an excessively long period of time in jail is for people who are subject to long periods of domestic abuse who eventually kill their part...