Does a preliminary inquiry need to be directed to the issue of whether or not there is sufficient evidence to put the accused on trial?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from R. v. Gill et al., 2006 BCSC 927 (CanLII):
I refer also to the decision of this court in Regina v. S.A.B., [1998] B.C.J. No. 3087. In that decision, Martinson J. analyzed a number of cases and unequivocally concluded that evidence at a preliminary inquiry must be directed to the issue of whether or not there is sufficient evidence to put the accused on trial. Thus, at least prior to the Criminal Code amendments, what occurred in this case – a preliminary inquiry directed exclusively to discovering evidence that might be useful on a Charter application for exclusion of evidence at trial -- was not appropriate.
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