[420 Girl]

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has upheld a provincial law that allows municipal inspection teams to investigate homes suspected of being marijuana grow operations, but ruled that police cannot enter a residence without a warrant in a case involving a Hells Angel associate in Surrey.

In a decision released Friday, Justice William Smart ruled that provisions of the Safety Standards Act which authorizes electrical safety inspection of residences does not violate section 8 of the Canadian Charters of Rights and Freedoms, which protects the public from unreasonable search and seizure.

However, in the case between Jason Arkinstall and the City of Surrey, Smart ruled that police did not have the authority to enter and search Arkinstall's home as part of the inspection team without a warrant.

He added that the disconnection of power to Arkinstall's home after police were refused access was unlawful.

Both parties claimed victory in the case that surrounds the City of Surrey's Electrical and Fire Safety Inspection Team and how it wanted to investigate Arkinstall's home for high electricity consumption in May 2007.

The EFSI team was composed of a safety officer, a fire official, two RCMP officers, and the city co-ordinator. Inspectors are not supposed to enter the home without a police check for safety.

Joe Arvay, the lawyer for Arkinstall, said while his client had no problem with inspectors entering the property, he did not want the police there without a warrant.

"Having police routinely attend these inspections constitutes an unconstitutional search and seizure. (Smart) held that my clients rights were violated," said Arvay. "The case has larger implications because these teams that come out of each of the municipalities such as Surrey have said that they won't go unless there's a police presence."

Surrey city solicitor Craig MacFarlane said the decision was favourable not only to his municipality, but ones across the country that have adopted templates of Surrey's inspection team because the law doesn't infringe on charter rights. He said that in anticipation of this case, the city has already changed its procedures in which police are required to have a warrant if they wish to enter a residence.

"This was part of our learning curve in putting our team together. Now we feel we're compliant with the constitutional safeguards against illegal search," said MacFarlane.

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