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Upheld constitutional ruling on roadside prohibition regime on appeal

The B.C. Court of Appeal upheld the trial decision concerning British Columbia’s automatic roadside prohibition regime. It agreed that the regime was valid provincial legislation rather than criminal law, but held that the original provisions imposing severe consequences following a “fail” reading violated s. 8 of the Charter because drivers lacked a meaningful ability to challenge the reliability of the screening-device result. The Court otherwise rejected the constitutional challenges, including the argument that the regime engaged the presumption of innocence under s. 11(d).