Pivot Legal Society is going to court on behalf of a former homeless man to challenge three Vancouver city bylaws.

Lawyer Scott Bernstein says a 57-year-old man was ticketed and harassed, when he couldn't find shelter space.

 “The combination of the three bylaws say there is no legal place for a homeless person to sleep outside and it also prohibits people who are sleeping outside from sheltering themselves with a tarp or some other kind of thing over themselves. So what we are doing is we are bringing a constitutional challenge to these bylaws."

Bernstein says city staff force the homeless into parks and back alleys where they become victims of crime and violence.

He says a court challenge against similar bylaws was recently won in Victoria.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, in response, says homelessness is not a crime.

Robertson says he wants the city manager and police chief to look at the lawsuit allegations and report back to him.

He says if changes need to be made to bylaws, they will be.