OTTAWA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Federal Court of Canada will hear a case against Prime Minister Stephen Harper for calling the 2008 snap election.

    Democracy Watch, a citizens' group that monitors ethics in government, is to argue before the court in Ottawa that Harper violated his own legislation by calling the election before he had served four years in office, the Canadian Press reported Tuesday.

    After he was first elected in 2006, Harper introduced a fixed election date law, which stipulated that the next vote was not supposed to be held until Oct. 19, 2009.

    Previously, the prime minister could dissolve the government any time. But Harper's law said that his minority government would have to govern until 2009 unless it was brought down by opposition parties.

    The law was passed in 2007, and the then minister of democratic reform, Rob Nicholson, who is now justice minister, said the measures restricted the prime minister from calling an election unless a vote of no-confidence occurred before October 2009.

    But Harper called the election in Oct. 2008, hoping to get a majority government. He won more seats in the Parliament, but still short of the 155 seats needed for a majority government.

    The legal challenge comes after biggest opposition group the Liberal Party announced they would seek to bring down the Conservative government by a non-confidence motion at the first opportunity after Parliament resumes on September 14.

    Currently in the House of Commons, the Conservatives have 143 seats, the Liberals 77, the Bloc Quebecois 48 and the New Democratic Party 36 seats. The Liberals would need both two other opposition parties' support to defeat the government.