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Part 6 — Challenge and Enforcement of Bylaws
Division 2 — Challenge of Bylaws
261 A bylaw, contract or other proceeding of a council must not be set aside or declared invalid if the only reason for doing so is that
(a) a person sitting or voting as a council member was not qualified to be a council member at or before the time of the proceeding,
(b) a council member renounced claim to office on council,
(c) an election for council was set aside or declared invalid after the proceeding, or
(d) an election of a council member was set aside or declared invalid after the proceeding.
262 (1) On application of an elector of a municipality, or of a person interested in a bylaw of the council, the Supreme Court may
(a) set aside all or part of the bylaw for illegality, and
(b) award costs for or against the municipality according to the result of the application.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a security issuing bylaw providing for the issue of debenture or other evidence of indebtedness to the Municipal Finance Authority of British Columbia.
(3) Notice of an application to set aside a bylaw, stating the grounds of the application, must be served on the municipality as follows:
(a) [Repealed 2003-52-229.]
(b) if the bylaw is a bylaw requiring the assent of the electors that the council purported to adopt without assent, the notice may be served more than one month after the adoption of the bylaw, but must be served at least 10 days before the hearing;
(c) subject to subsection (3.1), in any other case, the notice must be served at least 10 days before the hearing and not more than one month after the adoption of the bylaw.
(3.1) Notice of an application to set aside a security issuing bylaw of a regional district, stating the grounds of the application, must be served on the regional district at least 5 days before the hearing and not more than 10 days after the adoption of the bylaw.
(4) Except for a bylaw referred to in subsection (3) (b), an order under this section relating to a bylaw must not be made unless the application is heard within 2 months after the adoption of the bylaw.
263 A person assessed under or subject to a rate under a bylaw by which an assessment is made or a rate is imposed is not entitled to plead a defect in the bylaw as a defence to a claim for payment of that rate except by application to set aside the bylaw.
264 (1) An application for a declaratory order relating to a bylaw must not be entertained more than one month after the adoption of the bylaw, if the application is brought on the ground of
(a) irregularity in the method of enactment, or
(b) irregularity in the form of a bylaw.
(2) Except for a bylaw referred to in section 262 (3) (b), a declaratory order relating to a bylaw must not be made unless the application is heard within 2 months after the adoption of the bylaw.
265 (1) If
(a) all or part of a bylaw is illegal, and
(b) anything has been done under the bylaw that, because of the illegality, gives a person a right of action,
the action must not be brought until the end of the time period under subsection (2).
(2) An action referred to in subsection (1) must not be brought until
(a) one month after all or part of the bylaw has been set aside, and
(b) one month's notice has been given to the municipality.
(3) An action referred to in subsection (1) must be brought against the municipality only, and not against a person acting under the bylaw.
Division 3 — Enforcement of Regional District Bylaws
266 (1) A board may make bylaws for
(a) the purposes of enforcing the bylaws of the regional district by fine, by imprisonment or both, and
(b) imposing fines, penalties and costs.
(2) Section 261 [payment of fines and other penalties] of the Community Charter applies to regional districts.
266.1 (1) Division 3 [Ticketing for Bylaw Offences] of Part 8 of the Community Charter applies to regional districts.
(2) For the purpose of subsection (1), a reference in section 265 [penalties in relation to ticket offences] of the Community Charter to a bylaw is to be read as a reference to a bylaw under section 266 (1) of this Act.
266.2 (1) Subject to the regulations under the Local Government Bylaw Notice Enforcement Act, a regional district bylaw may be enforced by bylaw notice under and in accordance with that Act.
(2) If a matter is prescribed for the purpose of section 4 (2) of the Local Government Bylaw Notice Enforcement Act, a board that adopts or has adopted a bylaw in relation to the matter may only enforce the bylaw by bylaw notice under that Act.
267 (1) If a bylaw establishes a regulation or requirement to be observed in a regional district, a person who contravenes the regulation or requirement commits an offence that is punishable in the same manner as if the bylaw had expressly forbidden persons from doing or refraining from doing the act.
(2) In a prosecution for an offence against a regional district bylaw, the justice or court may impose all or part of the penalty or punishment authorized by the bylaw, this Act or the Offence Act, together with the costs of prosecution.
(3) If a penalty, or part of a penalty, and all costs imposed are not paid promptly, the justice or court may, by order, authorize all or part of the penalty and costs to be levied by distress and sale of the offender's goods and chattels.
(4) If there is no distress out of which the penalty and costs or part of the penalty and all of the costs can be levied, the justice or court may commit the offender to imprisonment for the term, or part of the term, specified in the bylaw.
267.1 (1) If a person is convicted of an offence
(a) under subsection (3), or
(b) against a regional district bylaw in a prosecution commenced by an information in Form 2 under the Offence Act,
in addition to the penalty established in accordance with section 266, the court may, having regard to the nature of the offence and the circumstances surrounding its commission, make an order
(c) prohibiting the person from doing any act or engaging in any activity that may, in the court's opinion, result in the continuation or repetition of the offence, and
(d) directing the person to take any action the court considers appropriate to remedy the harm that resulted from the commission of the offence.
(2) An order under subsection (1) must specify the duration of the order, which may not exceed one year.
(3) A person who fails to comply with an order under subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of not more than $10 000 or to imprisonment for not more than 6 months, or both.
(4) For the purposes of section 43 (3) of the Provincial Court Act, a fine imposed in a prosecution for an offence under subsection (3) is deemed to be a fine imposed for the contravention of a bylaw of the regional district.
(5) If a person is convicted of an offence referred to in subsection (1) (a) or (b), on application by the regional district or another person for compensation, the court must give consideration to the application and, in addition to any penalty imposed, may order the convicted person
(a) to pay to the regional district or to the other person compensation, in an amount that is not more than the monetary limit specified under the Small Claims Act, for any damage or loss sustained by the regional district or other person because of the commission of the offence, and
(b) in accordance with the schedule of costs prescribed under section 132 (2) (h) of the Offence Act, to pay to the regional district the costs incurred by the regional district in investigating and prosecuting the person.
(6) In the case of a dispute, the amount of compensation payable under subsection (5) (a) must be proven on a balance of probabilities by the regional district or the other person.
(7) An order under subsection (5) may be enforced as a judgment of the court for the recovery of a debt in the amount stated against the person named.
268 If a board has authority to regulate, prohibit and impose requirements in relation to a matter, the board may, by bylaw, authorize officers, employees and agents of the regional district to enter, at all reasonable times, on any property to inspect and determine whether all regulations, prohibitions and requirements are being met.
269 (1) The authority of a board under this or another Act to require that something be done includes the authority to direct that, if a person subject to the requirement fails to take the required action, the regional district may
(a) fulfill the requirement at the expense of the person, and
(b) recover the costs incurred from that person as a debt.
(2) Section 363.2 [special fees and charges that are to be collected as taxes] applies to an amount recoverable under subsection (1) that is incurred for work done or services provided in relation to land or improvements.
Contents | Part 1 | Part 1.1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 5.1 | Part 5.2 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 10.1 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30
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