Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan

One missing question can be the whole appeal, and that’s where we start. We walk through a B.C. Court of Appeal decision arising from a judge-alone second-degree murder trial where the accused admits indignity to human remains but denies murder, claiming an accidental death during consensual sex and blaming memory gaps on intoxication. The legal tension is sharp: if the Crown wants to argue the intoxication story is fabricated, do they have to put that allegation directly to the accused in cross-examination? From there, we explain the Brown and Dunn principle in plain language and why it sits at the centre of fairness in Canadian evidence law. We talk about what it means to confront a witness with your theory, what counts as a real opportunity to respond, and why appellate courts look at the entire trial record instead of treating the rule like a technical “gotcha.” If you care about criminal procedure, credibility findings, and how appellate review actually works, this is a must-hear breakdown. We then shift into the NCRMD system, where the words “not criminally responsible” can be deeply misunderstood. A woman with treatment-resistant schizophrenia grabs a child on a bus, truly believing the child is hers, and ends up in secure psychiatric custody for years. We unpack Review Board decisions, the “significant threat to the safety of the public” test, and how mental health law can mean detention with no fixed end date. To close, we tackle a home invasion conviction built on circumstantial evidence like DNA on masks and cell tower data, plus a thorny issue about a trial judge relying on material in a court file that was not marked as an exhibit. Subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review, then tell us: where should courts draw the line on fairness and proof? Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

A judge relying on AI that invents case law is the stuff of nightmares, but it already happened, and Quebec’s courts are responding. We walk through brand-new guidance aimed at keeping generative AI out of the core judicial function while still acknowledging that the tools are everywhere. The key idea is simple: judges can’t delegate judgment, legal reasoning, or responsibility to a system that only simulates reasoning and cannot be accountable. From there, we get practical about risk. We talk about confidentiality and why it matters if a draft decision, private notes, or details from an ongoing case are pasted into a cloud AI tool. We also look at the bigger threat surface as AI gets baked into word processors, phones, tablets, and even wearables that can summarize what they hear. Court technology policy now has to think not just about “using AI” but about the quiet ways AI features can ingest sensitive information. Then we shift to a British Columbia case that shows how the criminal law responds to modern harm: distributing intimate images without consent under Criminal Code section 162.1, including the fact that threats can be crimes too. We break down how the judge approaches sentencing, why a conditional sentence is rejected, how Gladue factors are weighed for an Indigenous offender, and what probation adds after custody. If you care about AI in courts, privacy, judicial ethics, or criminal sentencing in Canada, this one connects the dots. Subscribe for more Canadian legal analysis, share the episode with someone who follows court tech, and leave a review so more listeners can find us. What limits would you put on AI in courtrooms? Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

Someone can’t outrun the Criminal Code by crossing a provincial line, so why does it sometimes feel that way in Victoria? We dig into the real mechanics of out-of-province warrants in British Columbia, including when a warrant applies Canada-wide and when it needs a local endorsement under section 528 of the Criminal Code. Then we get honest about the part nobody likes saying out loud: the decision to return a person often turns into a budget question about flights, officers, and whether the originating province is willing to pay. We also unpack BC’s fugitive return program, the memorandum of understanding behind it, and the numbers that show how small the program is compared with what police are seeing on the ground. If Victoria Police are dealing with dozens of people wanted elsewhere in a matter of months, what does that mean for local resources, public safety, and the basic promise that the rule of law is applied consistently across Canada? From there, we shift to a striking BC Supreme Court case that proves accountability does not stop with a criminal conviction. A neighbour shooting leads to a civil lawsuit, a trial conducted from prison over Microsoft Teams, and substantial damages for both the person who was shot and the spouse who witnessed it and develops PTSD. We walk through how civil damages work, why assets like a home matter for collection, and what the court can do to preserve property while judgment enforcement ramps up. If you find this kind of practical legal breakdown useful, subscribe, share the episode with a friend in BC, and leave a review so more Canadians can find the show. What part of this system would you change first? Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

“Everyone gets the same benefit” sounds like the definition of fairness until you look at who gets squeezed when the rules change. We start with a Surrey teachers’ parental leave top-up dispute that has taken a surprising turn: adoptive parents argue that equal top-up pay can still be discriminatory because adoption can bring immediate, higher support needs for children, including trauma histories, disability, or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. We unpack how the policy evolved from older, birth-mother-only benefits, through earlier discrimination findings, and into a negotiated model where all new parents receive the same top-up. Then we dig into the key legal question now headed to the Human Rights Tribunal: can identical treatment create disproportionate harm that human rights law must address? Next, we shift to criminal law and the rare reality of perjury charges. Michael Mulligan explains a case where a man, acquitted of manslaughter after a fatal one-punch incident, later pleaded guilty to perjury for lying under oath about whether his relationship had ended. We break down why courts treat perjury as so serious, how sentencing is assessed, and why the BC Court of Appeal upheld a 20-month jail term even where the lie might feel “peripheral.” We close with consumer protection and the Competition Act concept of drip pricing, using the Honk Mobile parking app class action as a real-world example. Nearly a million people are part of the settlement, with an average claim around 35 cents, raising practical questions about notice, redemption by promo code, and whether small-dollar justice actually reaches consumers. Subscribe for more legally grounded stories, share this with a friend who loves policy and court decisions, and leave a review with the question you want us to tackle next. Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

A government can detain someone for mental health reasons, but can it also force treatment without first asking a harder question: are they actually capable of deciding for themselves? We walk through a major British Columbia decision on involuntary treatment under the Mental Health Act, where the court finds a section 7 Charter breach because director-approved treatment can override a patient’s wishes without a meaningful capacity process. Along the way, we unpack why consent, bodily autonomy, and dignity are not optional extras in Canadian health law, even when the patient is involuntarily hospitalized. We also dig into what changed midstream, including the repeal of “deemed consent”, and why that still didn’t fix the underlying problem. BC stands out compared with other provinces that use capacity assessments, advance directives, representation agreements, or substitute decision-makers to navigate informed consent and psychiatric care. The court suspends its ruling for six months, putting pressure on the province to amend the legislation or consider an appeal, while leaving the policy design to elected lawmakers. Then we pivot to a Supreme Court of Canada ruling with national impact: Parliament cannot legislatively prevent judicial review of administrative decisions. Using the WE Charity conflict of interest complaint and Democracy Watch’s challenge as the backdrop, we explain how the rule of law and section 96 of the Constitution Act protect the superior courts’ core role in reviewing whether government power is exercised lawfully and reasonably. If you care about mental health rights, government accountability, and the real meaning of the rule of law in Canada, this one connects the dots. Subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review, then tell us: where should courts draw the line on state power? Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discssed.

One word can change everything when it comes from a legal regulator. We dig into the BC Law Society’s mandatory Indigenous education course, the controversy over how it described the Kamloops Residential School site, and why some lawyers pushed to add a qualifier like “potential” when claims have not been independently confirmed. When that request was publicly framed as racist and then amplified through the Law Society’s own channels, the dispute escalated into a defamation lawsuit and ended with a settlement that included revised course wording, removed material, and a carefully worded public statement. From there, we zoom out to the bigger Canadian legal questions sitting behind the headlines: how professional regulators should communicate, how accusations of racism should be made responsibly, and what it would mean if governments moved toward criminalizing “residential school denialism” as hate speech. It’s a conversation about truth claims, harm, and the risks of turning contested facts into mandatory orthodoxy. We also break down a BC Adoption Act decision that shows how consent really works when a step-parent adoption is opposed by a biological parent. A nine-year-old’s views, a father’s substance-use struggles, and the court’s “best interests of the child” analysis collide in a ruling that legally severs one relationship while still urging space for connection when it’s safe, and the child wants it. If you care about Canadian law, family law, defamation, and freedom of expression, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review with your take on where the line should be. Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

Bail has become the go-to explanation for everything people hate about crime and disorder, but the law is more stubborn than the politics. We sit down with Michael Mulligan to sort out what Bill C-14 actually does, what it cannot do because of the Charter, and why the presumption of innocence and section 11(e) still drive the core rules of judicial interim release. If you have ever wondered why “just hold them until trial” is not a simple switch, this conversation puts real legal guardrails around the debate. We also talk about the part that rarely makes headlines: the system’s capacity. When courts are overloaded and under-resourced, cases spill over, trials get adjourned, and everyone pays the price in time and public confidence. We explore the Supreme Court’s principle of restraint, why bail conditions must be tied to specific risks, and why legislative “reminders” may sound tough while changing little on the ground. Then we pivot to two practical cases. First, a mistrial application after a witness under cross-examination violates a common order not to discuss evidence. We unpack the “fair trial” north star and the remedies a judge can use short of scrapping the trial. Second, we dig into privacy law and modern surveillance: police obtain a neighbour’s security video of an accused person’s front door without a warrant, and the court finds no reasonable expectation of privacy, raising big questions for anyone living around cameras. If this helped you think more clearly about Canadian bail law, mistrials, and privacy rights, subscribe, share the episode, and leave us a review so more people can find the show. What part of this debate do you think is most misunderstood? Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

A campus sticker dispute, a GST mistake that snowballs for years, and a pre-COVID work-from-home fight all end up in the BC Court of Appeal, and the common thread is proof. We walk through a defamation claim tied to “I Heart Hamas” stickers attributed to a UBC social justice group and explain the first hurdle many people miss: whether the plaintiff is even a legal entity that can sue. When the “group” is an unincorporated association, the case shifts to an individual trying to show the publication points to him personally, and we break down how courts analyze identification in Canadian defamation law. Next, we dig into a small business GST problem caused by bad bookkeeping advice. We clarify the GST small supplier threshold, why you can still owe uncollected GST, and when voluntary registration can help through input tax credits. The case also highlights practical warning signs: invoices that exaggerate qualifications, vague LinkedIn claims, and the “pay me cash with no invoice” request that should make any business owner stop and reassess. Finally, we look at a human rights and employment accommodation claim involving a TELUS worker who wanted to work from home based on vague symptoms and a thin doctor’s note. The court’s message is blunt and useful: an employer’s duty to accommodate is judged on the medical information available at the time, not on a diagnosis that appears later. If you found this helpful, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review so more listeners can find these real-world legal takeaways. Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

A province says a police misconduct record is sealed and destroyed. The Supreme Court of Canada says a fair trial can’t work that way. We walk through a major ruling on criminal disclosure and why it matters when the credibility of an investigating officer is on the line, especially where past discipline involves dishonesty or reliability. From Stinchcombe to O’Connor to McNeil, we connect the dots between first-party disclosure, third-party records, and the real-world question defence lawyers face: what information must the Crown provide so an accused person can properly challenge the case against them? Then we pivot to the financial wreckage left behind by a long-running Ponzi scheme. When the operator is bankrupt and the money is gone, the bankruptcy trustee has one practical tool left: clawbacks. We explain “net winners” versus “net losers”, why payouts often aren’t profits at all but other victims’ funds, and how concepts like fraudulent preference and fraudulent conveyance can unwind transactions to spread losses more fairly. If you’ve ever wondered what happens after a fraud collapses, this is the legal playbook. We close with a sharp lesson on conditional sentence orders (house arrest) and breach allegations. A late-night compliance check leads to a simple defence, “I slept through it”, and a deeper legal issue: can the Crown jail someone for the rest of their sentence without proving intention? The BC Provincial Court says mens rea still matters, and we break down what that means for curfews, door-answering conditions, and proof. If you find this kind of Canadian law breakdown useful, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find us. Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

A court ruling can change more than a headline, it can change how safe you feel about the basics: owning property and trusting the people who handle your money. We walk through a remarkable British Columbia Aboriginal title dispute connected to lands in Richmond and the Cowichan Tribes, where a private property owner tried to jump back into years of litigation after the trial decision raised alarms about fee simple ownership. When a judgment hints that Aboriginal title could affect private land, the stakes are not abstract. Think mortgages, resale value, and whether ownership still means you can sell without someone else’s consent. From there, we step back and ask a bigger question about the role of courts in Canada. When legal interpretations create sweeping policy consequences, what does judicial modesty or judicial restraint look like in practice? We talk about why public confidence matters and why sudden shifts can create uncertainty that spreads far beyond a single case. Then we pivot to employment law and personal finance with a wrongful dismissal fight involving an Investors Group advisor. We break down the difference between an employee, an independent contractor, and a dependent contractor, and why that classification decides whether notice is owed. We also unpack after acquired cause and how misconduct discovered after a firing can still justify termination. Along the way, we connect the case to a hard truth about financial advice in Canada: if you are not paying directly, commissions on mutual funds and investment products may be shaping the recommendation. Subscribe for more clear, practical legal analysis, share this episode with a friend who owns property or invests for retirement, and leave a review with the question you want us to tackle next. Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

A province suing over opioids is one thing. A province passing a statute that makes it easier for itself to sue, then launching a sweeping class action on that foundation, is something else entirely. We walk through British Columbia’s opioid litigation strategy, the allegations about marketing and addiction risk, and how the Opioid Damages and Health Care Cost Recovery Act reshapes the usual civil rules around limitation periods, damages, and liability. If you’ve ever wondered what “government cost recovery” really looks like in court, this is the clearest real-time example. We also unpack the Court of Appeal’s decision on class action certification, because that early procedural stage often decides the real leverage in mass litigation. We talk about what certification is actually meant to test, why appellate courts don’t treat appeals as a second kick at the can, and what it means when dozens of lawyers show up to fight over whether a case can proceed as a class action at all. Along the way, we flag a practical concern that’s easy to miss: cross-border enforceability and why a judgment that looks unfair can trigger resistance in other jurisdictions. Then we switch gears to a BC civil forfeiture case involving a 2015 Dodge Challenger and allegations of dangerous driving. The fight isn’t just about speeding facts; it’s about whether the province can sell property before trial to avoid storage costs, and what “instrument of unlawful activity” means when no criminal conviction is required. If civil forfeiture, due process, and proportionality have ever seemed abstract, this one makes it concrete. Subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review telling us which issue matters more to you: opioid accountability or civil forfeiture powers. Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

A city changes a bylaw, two parks get added to a no-camping list, and suddenly the real question isn’t “is this fair?” but “who has the legal power to decide?” We walk through a fresh BC Supreme Court decision on Victoria’s park camping restrictions, including why the court treats the amendment as legislation, not a mere policy tweak. That single classification reshapes the whole case: instead of weighing reasonableness, the court asks whether the City has authority under the Community Charter to pass the bylaw at all and answers yes. We also dig into the Charter section 7 backdrop from the 2009 Adams decision, where a blanket prohibition can become unconstitutional if there aren’t enough shelter spaces and people are forced to sleep outside. The ruling doesn’t end the broader homelessness and public space debate, but it clarifies what needs to be proven and by whom. A “free-floating” challenge without an affected person is a tough fit, while a future case with evidence of no realistic place to shelter could bring the constitutional issue back in a concrete way. Then we pivot to two fast, practical legal lessons. First, the BC Court of Appeal orders a new trial in a sexual assault case after the trial judge relied on prior consistent statements, a common credibility trap where repetition gets mistaken for proof. Finally, the Supreme Court of Canada interprets Charter section 16(2) on New Brunswick’s official languages and holds that appointing a unilingual lieutenant governor breaches the Charter, with implications for how we think about bilingualism and constitutional offices. If you found this useful, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave us a review. What part of these rulings should Canadians be paying more attention to? Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

A public servant gives three decades to the province, then gets fired without cause on the very day a government is about to fall. The BC Supreme Court doesn’t just disagree with how it was handled, it finds the termination was politically motivated and meant to turn a non-partisan employee into a convenient scapegoat. We talk through what that finding really means in wrongful dismissal law, why the court awards significant punitive damages, and how the decision sends a clear warning that public servants are not political props. We also dig into the details that should make any listener who pays taxes pay attention: severance that appears to be legally owed gets withheld for months while pressure is applied to sign away the right to sue. Then we step back and ask the uncomfortable question about accountability, because the defendant isn’t a political party, it’s the Crown in right of British Columbia, meaning the costs and damages come out of the public purse. We also examine why a current government might still choose to deny improper motive and defend the case all the way through a long trial. From there, we shift to estate law in British Columbia and a fascinating WESA section 58 “curative provision” case about wills. A couple plans mirror wills with a lawyer, but the woman dies before signing and the only pre-death draft carries the partner’s name, while a corrected version is created after death. We explain what counts as a reliable “record” of testamentary intentions, why judges can cure some defects but cannot validate a will based only on what people say happened, and what this means for anyone who has been putting off their estate planning. If you found this useful, subscribe, share the episode with someone who needs it, and leave a review. What part worries you more: political firings funded by taxpayers or the risk of an unfinished will ending up in court? Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

A million-dollar poker run sounds like the ultimate loophole, until the CRA decides it looks like a job. We talk with criminal defence lawyer Michael Mulligan about a Supreme Court of Canada leave decision that leaves standing a key ruling on poker winnings and Canadian income tax, and the real lesson it carries for anyone who treats gambling like a serious side hustle or a full-time living. We get into why most gambling winnings in Canada are generally tax-free under the Income Tax Act, then zero in on the exception: when the activity becomes business income. Hours spent, strategy, risk management, consistent profits, and relying on poker as your main source of income can all push you over the line. And if it’s business income, it can cut both ways, because deductions for losses and expenses may be available just like any other business. Then we shift to a topic that frustrates the public and the courts alike: criminal cases that take too long. We unpack Jordan’s hard timelines under Charter section 11(b), what counts as delay, and how the Supreme Court now treats “exceptionally complex” prosecutions with many accused and mountains of disclosure. If you care about Canadian law, taxes, and how court decisions affect everyday choices, hit subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave us a review. What do you think should count as “work” when luck is involved? Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

A locked gate at a kids’ camp sounds like a small-town nuisance until you trace it back to 1935 and forward to a trial date in 2027. We dig into a Greater Victoria dispute where companies say a historic public road, sometimes labelled Settlers Road or Glints Lake Road, should let them pass through Camp Thunderbird to reach adjacent land for a cell phone antenna. The twist is procedural: the lawsuit has dragged on since 2010, and the YMCA tries to have it tossed for want of prosecution after roughly 15 years of delay. We break down how BC Supreme Court judges weigh “inordinate delay”, excuses, presumed prejudice, and the interests of justice when time itself starts changing the evidence. Then we pivot to a criminal law problem that hits even harder. Police recorded an interview where a key witness allegedly recanted, the investigation was closed, and years later the allegation returned with charges. The recording that could test credibility is gone. We unpack Charter section 7 disclosure rights, the duty to preserve evidence, and the line between an abusive process and “unacceptable negligence”, plus why the remedy often depends on how the rest of the trial unfolds. We close with a Law Society discipline case involving client identification rules, anti money laundering safeguards, and a pro bono lawyer caught in the system. The fine gets overturned on judicial review, but the Court of Appeal blocks special costs against the Law Society, raising tough questions about accountability when a tribunal gets it wrong. If you value smart legal analysis grounded in real BC cases, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review. What part of these rulings sits wrong with you? Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

A single Supreme Court of Canada decision can quietly change the ground rules for thousands of breakups, and this one just did. We unpack the Court’s creation of a new tort tied to intimate partner violence, described in terms of coercive control and coercive and controlling conduct, and we dig into what that really means when the behaviour isn’t limited to physical violence. If you’ve ever wondered how the common law can invent a new civil wrong, this is a live example with immediate consequences for family law and civil litigation in Canada. We talk plainly about the hard part: definitions and incentives. The ruling points to emotional abuse, economic control, manipulation, isolation, and even improper litigation tactics, with broad language about autonomy, equality, and meaningful life choices. That may capture serious harm, but it also leaves lawyers and judges with little guidance on what crosses the line or how money damages should be measured. We explain why that uncertainty could turn more divorces into longer court battles, especially when property division is on the table and “fault” arguments start creeping back into a system built to avoid them. Then we shift to a chilling criminal law case out of Victoria: two friends, drinking, cocaine, guns, and a so-called bulletproof vest that proves only bullet-resistant. The facts are grim, but the legal lessons are clear, from firearm offences and a polymer 80 type handgun to why you cannot legally consent to grievous bodily harm. We also break down how manslaughter works without an intent to kill, and why a firearm manslaughter conviction triggers a mandatory minimum prison sentence. If you want more careful legal analysis that connects court decisions to real-world outcomes, subscribe, share this episode with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find us. Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

One email reply can feel harmless until it turns into a $17,500 invoice. We start with a recruiter placement fee fight that asks a deceptively simple question: when do you actually have a contract? A law firm agrees to work with an external recruiter, receives resumes, interviews a candidate, and hires them, then gets a “standard form” contract after the fact, demanding 17.5% of the salary. We unpack what contract law requires in British Columbia, why not every deal needs a signature, and why “sure” is not always acceptance of a price you never saw. Then we shift to employment law and a fixed-term employment contract that ends right on schedule. A worker argues that passing a performance review and changing a title from manager to executive director effectively turns a one-year agreement into permanent employment. We walk through why the court rejects that theory, what a title change does and does not prove, and why clear written terms can prevent expensive ambiguity for both employers and employees. We close with a cautionary tale from the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club: a 1969 wooden yacht collapses in a boat lift, and the owner sues for negligence, only to run into a signed waiver and a failed spoliation argument about overwritten video. The result highlights how enforceable waivers work, why evidence preservation matters, and how cost clauses can raise the stakes after a claim is dismissed. If you found this useful, subscribe, share the episode with a friend who signs things too fast, and leave us a review. Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

One decision can change a life, and another can quietly lock you into a guilty plea. We start with a heartbreaking civil claim tied to a mixed martial arts tournament and a kickboxing bout that leaves a 26-year-old UBC chemistry graduate in a permanent vegetative state. Because the event took place in space owned by Simon Fraser University, SFU ends up in the lawsuit and tries to shift responsibility to the province by pointing at the BC Athletics Commissioner, who approved kickboxing under the Criminal Code “prize fight” framework. We dig into what that approval power really means, and why the BC Court of Appeal says it still does not create the kind of proximity needed for negligence. Using the Anns/Cooper analysis, we unpack duty of care, remoteness, and the core idea that a statutory decision-maker acting for the public good is not automatically on the hook for private damages when something goes wrong. It’s a clear look at the limits of government liability, even when a regulator could have said “no” and prevented the event from happening. Then we switch gears to a BC Supreme Court ruling with everyday stakes: a speeding and driving-without-due-care ticket, a missed 30-day deadline under the Offence Act, repeated attempts on an online dispute portal, and the explanation that a cat damaged or “ate” the ticket. We walk through the extension-of-time test, what “arguable defence” requires, and why missing even one required factor can sink your application. If you value practical legal takeaways and clear explanations of Canadian case law, subscribe, share the episode, and leave us a review. What part of these rulings do you think the courts got right or wrong? Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

A court system can have the best rules on paper and still grind to a halt when there is nowhere to hold people. We start with a fresh BC Supreme Court practice direction aimed at a problem that’s been building quietly across the province: accused people denied bail in communities with no correctional facility close enough to support a long trial. When daily transport is impossible and police detachments refuse to function as ad hoc jails, judges are left making hard calls that affect fairness, public safety and the Charter right to a trial within a reasonable time. From chartered flights to the limits of small-town holding cells, we talk through why this is happening and what the court is now requiring through pretrial hearings. We also break down the real-world outcomes on the table: adjournments that risk delay arguments, moving trials away from the community where allegations arose, or releasing an accused from custody simply so the trial can proceed without collapsing under logistics. If you care about access to justice in British Columbia, this is where policy meets reality. Then we turn to one of the biggest legal governance fights in BC right now: the constitutional challenge to the Legal Professions Act and the future of the Law Society of British Columbia. We dig into the idea of an independent bar as an unwritten constitutional principle, why that independence gives meaning to an independent judiciary, and what it could mean when legislation steers a legal regulator toward government priorities like UNDRIP while adding new approval structures and expanding appointment power. The trial decision lets the law stand for now, but the stakes are high and the next stop is likely the Court of Appeal. Subscribe for more Canadian legal analysis, share this with someone who follows BC politics, and leave a review to help others find the show. What’s the bigger risk here: justice delayed by logistics or independence weakened by design? Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

A court decision appears online with almost everything blacked out: no registry, no lawyers, no location, no hearing date, and even the judge’s name is removed. All we’re left with is a disturbing question at the heart of Canadian criminal law: can someone become a confidential police informant without ever being clearly told they are one, and if so, what does that do to open court principles and public trust? We walk through confidential informer privilege from the ground up, including why it is treated as near-absolute in Canada and why it can protect informants who are unreliable or acting for personal gain. Then we get into the moment that triggered the whole fight: after hours of a stalled interview, a detainee asks for a pen, writes “informal” on their hand, hides it from the camera, shows it to an officer who nods, and the recording suddenly goes off. The judge ultimately finds an implied promise of confidentiality on a balance of probabilities, despite the Crown’s opposition, raising real-world issues about secrecy, disclosure, and how policing actually works. Then we shift to the Court of Appeal of British Columbia and a practical courtroom battle with huge stakes: when should a witness be allowed to testify by Zoom or Teams under the Criminal Code? In a referred murder conviction appeal after 17 years in prison, an officer who admitted recording key gunshot timings incorrectly wanted to testify remotely to avoid travel. The court said no, stressing the presumption of in-person evidence when credibility and fairness are on the line. Subscribe for more Canadian legal analysis, share this with someone who cares about open courts, and leave us a review. Where do you draw the line between necessary secrecy and the public’s right to see justice done? Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.