We had a similar problem in Canada about 5 years ago. Two hams in
Thunder Bay were charged under our Crimminal Code for "mischief"(s.
430)
I was retained to give an opinion on jurisdiction. The Crown(DAs to you)
were very aggressive in pursuing the mischief claim, but eventually the
charges were stayed as the Crown concluded the RadioCommunications
Act had exclusive jurisdiction in this area. However, one legal argument
that may have been compelling is the the Crimminal Code provides(s.
429(2)) you could not be charged with mischief if you were acting with
"legal justification"-as the amateurs had a clean bill of health from our
regulator that was probably sufficient to knock out the crimminal charge.
The case is not reported, although there is a good write up in the March
1993 issue of QST Canada. I can fax a copy if anyone is interested.
Tim VE6SH
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