Quote:
Originally Posted by Olao32
Maybe someone with a legal background can explain this to me.
If this new law imposed at the provincial level truly does bypass due process, can someone not challenge it under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms at the federal level?
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The B.C. laws have already been challenged, and the automatic roadside prohibitions for persons blowing over .08 was found by the court to be a Charter violation. The B.C. legislature has since adjusted those laws.
The same judge held that the .05-.079 bans were compliant with the Charter, as they were seen to be a reasonable limitation on Charter rights in the name of public safety.
It's important to remember that these decisions were made by the BC Supreme Court (equivalent AB court is the Court of Queen's Bench), not by an appellate court. Therefore the law is not binding on any other province, and probably would barely be regarded as persuasive. I think a really strong argument could be made that the .05 bans are an unreasonable limitation on Charter rights, and expect any jurisdiction with similar laws to have to consider this question in the courts.