It is close to last call at a pub in Whalley. A patron has had too much, an argument starts at the bar, and a staff member tells him it is time to go. He pushes back. Thirty seconds later he is face down outside the door with a doorman's knee on his back, and a few minutes after that, police are deciding who gets charged.
Scenes like this play out every weekend across Metro Vancouver, from Surrey pubs and Guildford sports bars to the Granville Entertainment District and the banquet halls where wedding receptions run past midnight. Most people assume the person in the staff shirt or the security jacket is automatically in the right. The law is not that simple. Bar staff and security have real powers, but those powers have limits, and when force goes past them, staff can be charged with assault like anyone else.
What Bar Staff Can Lawfully Ask You to Do
A licensed venue has broad control over who stays on its premises. BC's liquor laws require licensees to stop serving intoxicated patrons and to have them leave. Under the provincial Trespass Act, the occupier of premises, or someone acting for them, can direct a person to leave, and a person who does not go as soon as practicable is committing an offence.
In practice, a bartender, manager or doorman does not need a good reason to cut you off or show you the door. The decision may feel unfair. Arguing about it in the moment rarely helps, and refusing to leave is often what gives staff legal grounds to escalate.
When Staff Are Allowed to Use Physical Force
The power to tell someone to leave is not the same as the power to put hands on them. Physical force has to be justified by the law, and for venue staff that justification usually comes from one of three places.
The first is citizen's arrest. Section 494 of the Criminal Code allows the owner of property, or a person authorized by the owner, to arrest someone found committing a criminal offence on or in relation to that property. Anyone who makes that arrest must hand the person over to police without delay. Staff cannot hold someone in a back room, deal with them privately, or let them go after teaching them a lesson.
The second is defence of property, which allows a person in peaceful possession of premises to take reasonable steps to remove a trespasser. The third is self-defence, which applies to staff exactly as it applies to everyone else.
In R. v. Asante-Mensah, the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed that a person making a lawful arrest for trespass can use reasonable force to complete it. The key word in every one of these provisions is reasonable. The law protects staff who use the force the situation calls for, not force that goes beyond it.
Where Force by Bar Staff Crosses the Line
Section 26 of the Criminal Code makes a person criminally responsible for any excess force they use, even when they were entitled to use some force to begin with. In cases involving venue staff, excessive force tends to show up in the same handful of ways:
- Continuing to strike or restrain someone after they have stopped resisting
- Using chokeholds or neck restraints during a routine removal
- Throwing a patron down stairs or into a door frame
- Several staff members piling onto one person who poses no real threat
- Following someone outside and assaulting them after they have already left
- Holding a person without calling police
Courts look at the whole sequence of events, not only the moment someone was put out the door. A doorman can be justified for the first ten seconds of a removal and guilty of assault for the next twenty.
When the Patron Is the One Charged
When police arrive at a bar fight, they often hear the staff's version first. Staff are sober, organized, and frequently know the officers who patrol the area. Patrons are commonly charged with assault, causing a disturbance or mischief, and with assault causing bodily harm if someone is hurt. If a bottle or glass was involved, the charge can become assault with a weapon.
A patron charged in these circumstances may have a defence. If staff used unlawful or excessive force, the patron is entitled to defend themselves under section 34 of the Criminal Code. Someone who was grabbed before being given a chance to leave is in a very different position from someone who threw the first punch.
These cases often turn on video. Most bars in Surrey and Vancouver have cameras inside and at the entrance, but footage is commonly overwritten within days or weeks. A defence lawyer who requests it early can change the outcome of the case.
When Bar Staff or Security Face Charges
Staff are not immune. Doormen and security guards in BC have been charged with assault and assault causing bodily harm after removals that went too far. Security workers employed through a security company must hold a provincial licence under BC's Security Services Act, and a criminal charge can put that licence, and a career in the industry, at risk.
Staff facing charges should not assume the venue is looking out for them. An injured patron can sue both the employee and the business for damages, and the venue's interests in that lawsuit can differ sharply from the employee's. A staff member accused of assault needs independent criminal defence advice.
Banquet Halls, Weddings and Private Events in Surrey
Surrey has a large number of banquet halls, and many weddings and family celebrations hire private security for the night. Those guards have the same powers and the same limits as bar security. They are not police.
When a disagreement between guests, often relatives, turns physical and security steps in, the result can be charges against guests, against guards, or both, at an event where everyone knows each other. And as with domestic assault charges, once police and Crown are involved, the families cannot simply agree to drop it the next morning.
What to Do After an Incident With Bar Staff or Security
Whether you were the patron or the person working the door, the first few days matter most. These steps protect your position:
- Get medical attention and keep records of any injuries
- Write down what happened, the time, and who was there while it is fresh
- Collect names and phone numbers of witnesses, including friends who saw it
- Save any phone videos and have a lawyer request the venue's footage quickly
- Do not give a statement to police without legal advice
- Stay away from the venue and do not contact the other people involved
If you have been charged with assault after an incident at a bar, nightclub or event, or you work in security and are facing charges after a removal, contact Gagan Nahal for a free consultation in Surrey at (604) 527-4769 as soon as possible. Mr. Nahal's law practice focuses on criminal defence law, and he has extensive experience in this area of the law.
Gagan Nahal is a criminal defence lawyer based in Surrey, British Columbia, although he has represented clients across Canada. He works vigorously and tirelessly defending his clients.
If you have any questions about this article or you would like to talk to Mr. Nahal, please call him directly at (604) 527-4769.