HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Motor Vehicle Act

1 Section 215.46 (2) of the Motor Vehicle Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 318, is repealed and the following substituted:

(2) If a peace officer serves a person with a notice of a 30-day or 90-day driving prohibition under section 215.41, the peace officer must cause the motor vehicle that the person was driving or operating at the time the notice was served to be taken to and impounded at a place directed by the peace officer.

Motor Vehicle Amendment Act (No. 2), 2012

2 Sections 15 to 17 of the Motor Vehicle Amendment Act (No. 2), 2012, S.B.C. 2012, c. 34, are repealed.

Offence Act

3 Section 1 of the Offence Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 338, is amended

(a) by adding the following definitions:

"copy" means, in relation to a violation ticket that is an eTicket, a printout, in the prescribed form, that is produced from the digital record of the eTicket;

"eCertificate of service" means a certificate of service described in section 31.01;

"eTicket" means a violation ticket described in section 14.01; , and

(b) by repealing the definitions of "informant" and "violation ticket" and substituting the following:

"informant" means a person who lays an information or an enforcement officer who issues a violation ticket;

"violation ticket" means a violation ticket referred to in section 14 but does not include the instructions prescribed under section 132 (2) (a.3).

4 Section 10.1 is amended by adding the following subsection:

(1.1) This section does not apply to a violation ticket.

5 Section 11 is amended by striking out "Subject to the Motor Vehicle Act, proceedings" and substituting "Proceedings".

6 Section 13 (1) (a) is repealed and the following substituted:

(a) must be in writing, other than an information laid by means of an eTicket,

(a.1) must be under oath, other than an information laid by means of a violation ticket, and .

7 Section 14 is amended

(a) by repealing subsection (1) and substituting the following:

(1) An enforcement officer may

(a) sign and issue a violation ticket, other than an eTicket, for contravention of an enactment referred to in the regulations, or

(b) issue an eTicket for contravention of an enactment referred to in the regulations. , and

(b) in subsection (4) by striking out "A violation ticket must be" and substituting "A violation ticket that is mailed under subsection (6) or served must be".

8 The following section is added:

eTickets

14.01  (1) For the purposes of this Act, an eTicket is a type of violation ticket created as an electronic digital record but does not include a violation ticket referred to in section 14 (2).

(2) An eTicket includes a printout or display, in the prescribed form, that is produced from the digital record of the ticket.

(3) A printout or display of the digital record of an eTicket containing a statement that it is an authentic printout or display produced from the digital record is conclusive proof of that fact.

9 Section 15 is amended by adding the following subsection:

(7.1) Without restricting any other method of complying with subsection (5) in respect of eTickets, the requirement to refer a copy of an eTicket to the Provincial Court is satisfied if the digital record of the eTicket is referred to the court and the court can produce a printout or display, in the prescribed form, of the digital record.

10 Section 31 is amended

(a) in subsection (1) by striking out "or" at the end of paragraph (a) and by repealing paragraph (b) and substituting the following:

(b) the certificate of service, other than an eCertificate of service, of a person who served the summons, violation ticket, appearance notice or promise to appear if the certificate is endorsed on a copy of the document that was served, or

(c) the eCertificate of service of a person who served a violation ticket that is an eTicket. , and

(b) by adding the following subsection:

(2.1) When a certificate of service referred to in subsection (1) (b) or (c) is completed for the purposes of proving service of a violation ticket, the certificate must be sent to the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia.

11 The following section is added:

eCertificates of service

31.01  (1) For the purposes of this Act, an eCertificate of service is a type of certificate of service created as an electronic digital record to be used to prove service of eTickets.

(2) An eCertificate of service includes a printout or display, in the prescribed form, that is produced from the digital record of the certificate.

(3) A printout or display of the digital record of an eCertificate of service containing a statement that it is an authentic printout or display produced from the digital record is conclusive proof of that fact.

12 Section 132 (2) is amended

(a) by repealing paragraph (b) and substituting the following:

(b) respecting the electronic issuance, reception, creation, completion, signing, identification, transmission, storage or reproduction, or conversion from either paper or electronic format to the other format, of

(i) a violation ticket other than an eTicket, or

(ii) a certificate of service of a violation ticket other than an eCertificate of service;

(b.1) respecting the issuance, reception, creation, completion, identification, transmission, storage or reproduction of an eTicket or an eCertificate of service; , and

(b) by repealing paragraph (c) (i) and substituting the following:

(i) issue a violation ticket under section 14 (1) (a) or under either section 14 (1) (a) or (b), .

Validation Provision

Motor Vehicle Act – validation of impoundment

13  (1) In this section:

"impoundment" means the impoundment of a motor vehicle that occurred because a peace officer had reasonable grounds to believe that the driver of the motor vehicle failed or refused, without reasonable excuse, to comply with a demand made under the Criminal Code to provide a sample of breath for analysis by means of an approved screening device;

"specified period" means the period beginning on September 20, 2010 and ending on the day before the date this Act receives Royal Assent.

(2) Every impoundment that occurred during the specified period is conclusively deemed to have been validly made under section 215.46 (2) of the Motor Vehicle Act.

(3) Subsection (2) is retroactive to the extent necessary to give it full force and effect and must not be construed as lacking retroactive effect in relation to any matter because it makes no specific reference to that matter.

(4) Subsection (2) does not affect a decision of the superintendent made under section 266 of the Motor Vehicle Act with respect to an impoundment that occurred during the specified period.

Commencement

14  The provisions of this Act referred to in column 1 of the following table come into force as set out in column 2 of the table:

 
Explanatory Notes

SECTION 1: [Motor Vehicle Act, section 215.46] clarifies that a peace officer must cause a motor vehicle to be impounded if the driver is subject to a 30-day or 90-day driving prohibition under section 215.41.

SECTION 2: [Motor Vehicle Amendment Act (No. 2), 2012, sections 15 to 17] repeals not-in-force amendments to the Offence Act that are replaced by amendments made by this Bill.

SECTION 3: [Offence Act, section 1] adds definitions of "copy", "eCertificate of service" and "eTicket" and replaces the definitions of "informant" and "violation ticket".

SECTION 4: [Offence Act, section 10.1] adds a provision to ensure that section 10.1 of the Act, which deals with data records, does not apply to violation tickets.

SECTION 5: [Offence Act, section 11] removes a reference to the Motor Vehicle Act that is not needed.

SECTION 6: [Offence Act, section 13] divides section 13 (1) (a) of the Act into 2 paragraphs for clarity and establishes that eTickets do not have to be in writing.

SECTION 7: [Offence Act, section 14]

• provides that violation tickets, other than eTickets, are signed and issued and that eTickets are issued;
• clarifies that violation tickets must be in the prescribed form when they are mailed under section 14 (6) of the Act or when they are served.

SECTION 8: [Offence Act, section 14.01] adds a provision that establishes and describes eTickets.

SECTION 9: [Offence Act, section 15] adds a provision to allow the digital record of an eTicket to be referred to the Provincial Court.

SECTION 10: [Offence Act, section 31]

• establishes that eCertificates of service can be used to prove the service of eTickets;
• adds a provision that requires completed certificates of service for violation tickets be sent to the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia.

SECTION 11: [Offence Act, section 31.01] adds a provision that establishes and describes eCertificates of service.

SECTION 12: [Offence Act, section 132]

• clarifies the regulation-making powers dealing with the electronic aspects of violation tickets, other than eTickets, and certificates of service, other than eCertificates of service;
• adds a new regulation-making power respecting eTickets and eCertificates of service;
• adds a new regulation-making power to specify enactments in respect of which eTickets may be issued.

SECTION 13: [Motor Vehicle Act – validation of impoundment] validates the impoundment of motor vehicles that occurred in a certain situation during a specified period in the past.