VANCOUVER, B.C. - A British Columbia court decision has quashed polygamy charges against two controversial B.C. religious leaders.

Winston Blackmore and James Oler were arrested earlier this year in Bountiful, B.C., and charged with one count each of polygamy.

The men had petitioned the court to stay the charges, arguing that the B.C. attorney general had gone "special prosecutor shopping" until he found someone who would go ahead with charges.

In a decision released Wednesday, B.C. Supreme Court Judge Sunni Stromberg-Stein agreed.

The judge said the province's attorney general did not have the jurisdiction to appoint a second special prosecutor to consider charges against Blackmore and Oler after the first special prosecutor recommended against charging the two men.

She found that the appointment of the second special prosecutor - and therefore the decision to charge the men - was "unlawful."

The attorney general had no jurisdiction to appoint a second special prosecutor, the judge concluded.

Blackmore and Oler are leaders of two separate factions of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a breakaway sect of the mainstream Mormon Church, which renounced polygamy more than a century ago. Blackmore was accused of having 19 wives, and Oler three.

The RCMP have launched numerous investigations into Bountiful since 1990, and prosecutors have repeatedly shied away from laying charges, concerned the polygamy laws wouldn't survive a challenge under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Mounties launched a renewed investigation in 2005 and two years later recommended charges against Blackmore and Oler.

Several legal experts consulted by the province, including a special prosecutor appointed two years ago, suggested a reference case to determine the constitutionality of the law would be the best way to proceed.

But then-attorney general Wally Oppal appointed another special prosecutor, Terry Robertson, last year, and Robertson ultimately recommended charges. Bruce Elwood, who represented Blackmore and Oler at the hearing, said the judge quashed the appointment of the special prosecutor, which quashes the charges. But it's not the same as throwing out the charges.

He said he's not sure whether the charges could be resurrected.

"I believe this will be the end of the criminal case but what the judge has actually done is to quash the appointment of the special prosecutor," he said.

The B.C. Criminal Justice Branch will have to decide what they will do now, he said.