Lyons Law

You never know when we might need to challenge a Roman will!

Lawyer Matthew Nefstead represented members of the Rainforest Flying Squad in the latest Fairy Creek hearings, focusing on issues of police enforcement. Justice Thompson found that “methods of enforcement of the court’s order have led to serious and substantial infringement of civil liberties, including impairment of the freedom of the press to a marked degree.” He also found that the police have other ways to enforce the law without the court putting itself in the middle of the conflict. Therefore, he declined to extend Teal Cedar's injunction past its expiry on Tuesday.

We are thrilled with this result and will be closely monitoring how police enforcement tactics adapt to the new legal framework. Meanwhile, lawyers for Teal Cedar have advised that they will be appealing the decision.

Bombshell Decision: Judge Ends Fairy Creek Injunction | The Tyee Celebrating blockaders say their fight to protect old growth continues.

We are very proud to have represented Elders for Ancient Trees in their successful challenge to RCMP exclusion zones at Fairy Creek. Yesterday, Justice Thompson confirmed in an oral decision that maintaining public access and the right to participate in lawful protest was among the primary purposes of the injunction order issued in April, and the RCMP's use of extensive exclusion zones and checkpoints was not a reasonably justified exercise of their enforcement discretion.

We look forward to reviewing the written reasons for judgment when they are released, and will be watching closely to see how the RCMP and Teal Jones respond to the ruling.

Congratulations also to Sean Hern and his media clients for their success in reaffirming the rights of media to access and monitor police enforcement actions.

RCMP not justified in blocking access for journalists and public at logging site, judge rules Two court decisions Tuesday affirmed the right of both ­journalists and a seniors’ group to access the Fairy Creek area where people protesting old-growth logging have been arrested for more than . . .

Some very nice flowers arrived at our office. Big thanks to Sean’s Uncle Doug and Aunt Sheila!