Daniel Lerner chairing OBA webinar on changes to drinking and driving

In late 2018, major changes were made to the law on drinking and driving and driving with drugs. In September 2018, the new “Blood Drug Concentration” offences came into force, creating a whole way to investigate and prosecute offences involving driving and consuming drugs. In December 2018, massive changes were made to the law of drinking and driving, including replacing “Over 80” with a completely different offence, gave the police more investigative powers, increasing the minimum sentences, making drinking and driving an offence that can cause Permanent Residents to be deported, and creating new presumptions to assist the prosecution of these offences. In addition, a completely new legislative framework was created with new terminology and legislative provisions.

If you haven’t been following the lead-up to these changes, any defence lawyer or prosecutor will be in for a shock in trying to understand even the fundamentals of these new changes. In prior panels I have been on, I have emphasized that these changes “are the most fundamental changes to drinking and driving since the introduction of the Over 80 offence”.

To help get defence lawyers and prosecutors up to speed, I will be chairing a one-hour webinar on behalf of the Ontario Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section. This is a crucial CPD for any lawyers not familiar yet with the new changes. The webinar will be on April 23, 2019 from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Our panel will be:

• The Honourable Marcella Henschel, Ontario Court of Justice (Newmarket)
• James Palangio, Crown Counsel, Drugs and Driving Team Lead
• Peter Lindsay,Barrister

Registration details can be found here.