Property seizure by provinces OK

Robin Chatterjee, a former student at Carleton University in Ottawa, was en route to his home in Thornhill, Ont., in March 2003 when police pulled him over because his car was missing a front licence plate.

They discovered he was breaching a court order to live in Ottawa and upon searching his car, found a light ballast, one light socket and an exhaust fan -- items commonly used for marijuana grow operations. He also had $29,000 cash.

Police did not charge the young man because they said they did not have enough evidence.

Ontario's Civil Remedies Act, however, does not require a criminal conviction, so the province moved in and seized the goods after receiving judicial approval. A judge can give permission based on a balance of probabilities that the goods were proceeds of crime, a standard that is not as high as the criminal test of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

'Each level of government bears a portion of the costs of criminality and each level of government, therefore, has an interest in its suppression,' Justice Ian Binnie wrote in the 7-0 decision.

Property seizure by provinces OK: court