The BC Government recently introduced Bill 17 – the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act. This legislation aims to change some of the processes currently used in traffic courts. The Government’s description of the changes is that they will move some traffic court matters into an online process, to facilitate easier access to justice.
But I’m not fully convinced that’s the aim
Among many changes to the traffic court rules, the Bill aims to introduce what it terms a “conference” to resolve your ticket. On its face, the conference seems to be a meeting between a representative of the Crown, a representative for the defence, and a neutral party, in the hopes of resolving the ticket without a hearing in court.
But the legislation empowers the government to enact regulations that govern how the conference takes place.
Among the things that the government would be allowed to regulate are the following:
-Who may appear for the prosecution;
-Who may preside over the conference, including that it does not have to be a Judicial Justice;
-Who may or must, including who may not, appear for the defence.
Think about this: there is no reason for the government to have the power to regulate who is not allowed to appear at a resolution conference unless there is some person or class of persons they do not want to attend.
Now, we know that they could never get away with regulating that a person who is charged with a traffic ticket offence could not attend. So who could they possibly be thinking of?
Lawyers.
The government’s legislation is clearly aimed at eliminating lawyers from the traffic court process. This is a shocking and, frankly, disturbing decision and one that is clearly being made in a way that the public does not know that the ultimate goal is to take lawyers away from your court dispute.
This is not unprecedented.
The former BC Liberal Government drafted and passed legislation to eliminate traffic court altogether, replacing it with an administrative tribunal. That legislation outright prohibited lawyers. There was a public outcry and the legislation was never put into force and effect. But it has remained on the books, needing only to be enacted by regulation.
When the NDP government was elected, they promised not to enact the traffic court tribunal law. But what they did not promise was not to create their own version that was, um, less transparent in its intentions.
The NDP government has been responsible for legislation that eliminates the ability of people to have help from lawyers. Changes to the Civil Resolution Tribunal – which itself ousts legal help – have included moving more disputes to the tribunal model and prohibiting legal representation before the tribunal.
Many people may think that a traffic ticket is only a minor consequence and a lawyer’s assistance is not necessary. This could not be farther from the truth.
Traffic tickets can carry significant and long-lasting consequences, including penalty points that lead to driving prohibitions, and insurance rate increases, and can even prevent people from obtaining employment or working for driving gig companies like Uber and Lyft. And because your driving record is forever, a traffic ticket conviction can follow you for the rest of your life. There is no pardon process for a traffic ticket, so once it’s on your record you must live with it forever.
Having a lawyer for your traffic court matter can help you better understand the full implications of a resolution. Attending a resolution conference where a lawyer is not permitted means that people can be compelled to participate in a process whereby they agree to something without fully understanding the consequences of the agreement.
And while the legislation does not explicitly say that lawyers will not be allowed, I don’t hear anyone in government suggesting that there are no plans to remove lawyers from the process.
In Henry VI, the character Dick the Butcher suggests that the easiest way to gain power is to “kill all the lawyers.” The line is a reference to the fact that lawyers stand between the government and corruption, standing up for the rights of the people who otherwise have no ability to defend themselves.
It appears that there may be another piece of legislation on the books in British Columbia with an aim to kill all the lawyers. And in doing so, it appears that your rights are at risk.
