CHARTER - AUTOMATIC ROADSIDE DRIVING PROHIBITIONS REVIEWED
Sunday, April 6, 2014 at 10:03AM British Columbia's immediate roadside prohibition (IRP) laws have been reviewed and (for the most part) upheld by the British Columbia Court of Appeal:
The legislation does not supplant the Criminal Code, its purpose and effect is to regulate highways and enhance public safety. The legislation does not create a criminal or quasi-criminal proceeding nor does it lead to true penal consequences and therefore, does not create an “offence” within the meaning of s. 11(d). The legislation authorizes a search that is unreasonable when a “fail” reading is obtained due to the limited grounds available to challenge the results of the search. This violation of s. 8 is not saved by s. 1. Sivia v. British Columbia, 2014 BCCA 79
Will other provinces follow? Factsheets that explain the law and that list the statistics since the law came into effect in 2010 are on the Government of British Columbia website.