A Surrey Pretrial centre inmate backed by the West Coast Prison Justice Society is challenging the provincial governmentsa国际传媒檚 use of the balance of probabilities standard of proof in prison disciplinary hearings on grounds it violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Christopher Trotchie and the not-for-profit society maintain the government should require proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Justice Karen Douglas rendered her on Oct. 27, in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver. She denied the governmentsa国际传媒檚 application to strike the challenge, having found the plaintiffssa国际传媒� case is not destined to fail and should proceed to trial.

sa国际传媒淭his action does not challenge the Act or the Regulation. Rather, it challenges administrative decision makerssa国际传媒� use of the balance of probabilities standard of proof at prison inmate disciplinary hearings.sa国际传媒�

At issue, Douglas noted, is whether using the balance of probabilities standard in prison disciplinary hearings deprives inmates of sa国际传媒渢heir liberty and security of the person in a manner that is contrary to the presumption of innocence.sa国际传媒�

For its part, the provincial government submitted that using the balance of probabilities standard does not do this because presumption of innocence doesnsa国际传媒檛 apply to correctional centre disciplinary hearings.

It argued that the rationale for presumption of innocence is to guard against wrongful convictions and submitted that this consideration is unique to criminal law but does not apply to inmate discipline, the judge noted.

The trial is set for Feb. 12.

sa国际传媒淚 conclude it is not plain and obvious that the plaintiffssa国际传媒� claim is bound to fail. Accordingly, I decline to strike this claim,sa国际传媒� Douglas decided.

Douglas also noted in her reasons that Trotchie has been imprisoned in several BC Correctionssa国际传媒� institutions and has sa国际传媒渟ignificant experience with the Provincesa国际传媒檚 prison disciplinary regime.sa国际传媒�