IRP regime upheld by Court of Appeal

As you may or may not know, we have anxiously been awaiting a decision from the BC Court of Appeal with regards to the Constitutionality of the IRP regime.  Earlier this week, the Court finally rendered its decision and the result was...unfavourable to the Defence.

The short version is that the Court held the laws to be Constitutional and that it does NOT infringe on criminal law.  This means that the current IRP regime in effect (which authorizes the police to issue immediate 90 day prohibitions and 30-day impoundments of vehicles prior to having a hearing on the issue) will remain in force in BC.

While on first blush, this does sound quite bad for motorists, there are some positives to take away from this.  Specifically, the IRP regime has evolved quite extensively since its first inception in September of 2010 and has improved in some regards.  For example, although initially everyone upon conviction of an IRP had to enrol in the RDP and Ignition Interlock programs, the OSMV is now considering a person's driving history and determining whether those penalties are needed on a case-by-case basis.

You can read the BCCA judgment here.