L. Wilhelm

The Crown brought an application for certiorari and prohibition to quash a decision of the Ontario Court of Justice, which held that recent amendments to the Criminal Code limiting the availability of preliminary inquiries did not apply retrospectively.

The Superior Court found that it had jurisdiction to grant prerogative relief because the lower court's statutory interpretation resulted in a jurisdictional error.

The Court held that the preliminary inquiry is a statutory procedure that does not confer substantive rights.

Therefore, the amendments were purely procedural and applied retrospectively.

The application was allowed, the lower court's order was quashed, and prohibition was granted.

The applicant, charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, brought a Charter application to exclude evidence seized from his vehicle pursuant to a search warrant.

He argued the Information to Obtain (ITO) lacked sufficient grounds and relied on an uncorroborated confidential informant tip.

He also argued the indictment violated the single transaction rule under s. 581 of the Criminal Code by combining drugs seized from his person upon arrest with drugs later seized from his vehicle.

The court dismissed the application, finding the ITO contained sufficient corroborated grounds to justify the warrant.

The court also held that the single transaction rule was not violated, as the seizures occurred on the same day and formed part of a continuous series of acts.