Sources of inside information

Subtle pressure

In March we discussed the strange tension between the Government and the courts here in BC. The blog post remained one of the most popular since then. The post discussed the statement issued by the three levels of court concerning judicial independence. It was made in response to comments made by...

Findings of fact to fit a result

If you read our post from yesterday, you know about the secret. Essentially, a judge or tribunal can uphold or reject any matter before them by basing their decision on findings of fact. If you're the judge and you are inclined to a certain decision, all you need to do...

A Secret

It's time we let you in on a secret. There is a major flaw in our justice system. Appeal courts struggle with it but only using delicate language designed to shroud the problem. Virtually all lawyers know about it but nobody has managed to come up with an acceptable solution....

The End of the Charter of Rights in BC

Drunk driving is on the decline

Last week CTV reported that the number of people who were given driving prohibitions in connection with an alleged drinking and driving offence since December 1, 2011, was a fraction of the number from the same period the year before and about half of what we would see in a...

Government’s IRP fix and what it means to you

The fix is in and British Columbians want to know what it means to them. More important right now is what it means to the people who received a Fail 90-day Immediate Roadside Prohibition before November 30, 2011. The short answer is that nothing has changed. The legislation is silent on...

New IRP Legislation Introduced

As most people know, the Government has introduced the proposed changes to the Motor Vehicle Act to bring back "Fail" 90-day Immediate Roadside Prohibitions, also known as IRPs or Automatic roadside driving prohibitions. You can find the press release here and the proposed legislation here. Apparently the press release was issued,...

Incentives in The Justice System

FOI Results Published Online

When the Spencer decision was rendered, we wanted to see if anything changed to address the concerns raised by the Court. We noticed temporary staffing changes at the OSMV, but no change to the general way IRP hearings, and in particular hearings for refusals were being handled and decided. We made...