The Mounties have come under severe criticism in the wake of a scathing B.C. Supreme Court ruling.

On July 29, Justice Catherine Bruce entered a stay of proceedings against a Surrey couple, John Nuttall and Amanda Korody, after determining that the RCMP "manufactured" their crime: placing pressure cookers with fake explosives on the lawn of the B.C. legislature in 2013.

In a news release issued last night, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association described a stay of proceedings as "the most drastic remedy a criminal court can order".

“The decision is a resounding rebuke of the RCMP’s illegal activities and improper tactics in this investigation," BCCLA litigation director Grace Pastine said. "Manipulating and exploiting marginalized people in order to push them to do criminal acts they would be incapable of doing on their own is an affront to democratic freedoms. What is especially troubling is that this costly, cockamamie investigation was seen as a national priority for RCMP headquarters and was watched carefully by very senior officials. There could be no clearer signal that there is an urgent need for enhanced accountability for the RCMP’s national security activities.”

In addition, Pastine noted that "the couple appear to have been improperly targeted based on their religious beliefs."

Not long after Nuttall and Korody were freed on July 29, they were rearrested because security officials intend to obtain a "terrorism peace bond".

They were then released on bail pending the outcome of this application.

According to the federal government's website, the court can impose conditions on people with terrorism peace bonds "where a police officer believes that a terrorist activity will soon be carried out but does not necessarily have more details".