OTTAWA -- The Supreme Court of Canada says prison inmates can use provincial courts to challenge decisions to move them to higher security institutions.
In an 8-0 decision, the justices agreed with the British Columbia Supreme Court and the provincial Court of Appeal that such transfer decisions can be reviewed and don't necessarily have to go to the Federal Court.
The case arose when convicted murderer Gurkirpal Singh Khela was implicated in a prison stabbing at Mission Institution, a medium-security prison.
He was transferred to the maximum-security Kent Institution and filed suit over that decision, saying the transfer was unreasonable and didn't follow procedure.
The lower courts agreed and returned him to Mission.
But the high court held the ruling is moot because Khela was subsequently reclassified and returned to Kent, and decided not to appeal a court ruling which upheld that transfer.
