The Court held that the Complainant had no standing to appeal the decision of an adjudicator appointed by the Police Complaints Commissioner to conduct a public hearing into the conduct of a police officer relating to the death of the Complainant’s brother

27. June 2006 0
Administrative law – Police – Police Complaint Commissioner – Adjudication – Procedural fairness – Public hearings – Conduct of hearings – Rules of evidence – Judicial review – Appeals – Parties – Standing – Compliance with legislation Berg v. British Columbia (Police Complaint Commissioner), [2006] B.C.J. No. 1027, British Columbia Court of Appeal, May 9, 2006, Finch ...

The appeal by Berezoutskaia from the dismissal of her application for judicial review of a dismissal of her complaint to the Human Rights Tribunal was dismissed where the Court of Appeal found that the Tribunal member did not act unreasonably, in bad faith, or with improper purpose in concluding the complaint had no chance of success at hearing

25. April 2006 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Human Rights Tribunal – Human rights complaints – Discrimination – Lack of Evidence – Employment law – Termination of employment Berezoutskaia v. British Columbia (Human Rights Tribunal), [2006] B.C.J. No. 436, British Columbia Court of Appeal, March 2, 2006, Hall, Levine and Smith JJ.A. Berezoutskaia was a refugee from ...

A University of British Columbia (“UBC”) student who had been assigned a failing grade for his Bachelor of Education practicum course (“Mohl”) was partly successful in appealing from a decision in Chambers that his action against UBC was an abuse of process because it raised claims that had already been decided against Mohl in an earlier judicial review proceeding

28. March 2006 0
Administrative law – Universities – Students – Assessment of grades – Estoppel and res judicata – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Abuse of process – Judicial review – Appeals Mohl v. University of British Columbia, [2006] B.C.J. No 335, British Columbia Court of Appeal, February 17, 2006, Low, Smith and Thackray JJ.A. Mohl was assigned a failing ...

The Court set aside, in part, the Human Rights Tribunal’s decision not to dismiss the Complainant’s human rights complaint. The Court also set aside the Tribunal’s order for disclosure of certain documents.

28. March 2006 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Human Rights Tribunal – Human rights complaints – Discrimination – Gender – Equality rights – Judicial review – Legislative compliance – Disclosure – Relevance of information disclosed – Standard of review – Patent unreasonableness – Correctness Cariboo Chevrolet Pontiac Buick GMC Ltd. v. Becker, [2006] B.C.J. No. 119, British ...

The Court found that a Human Rights Tribunal’s decision that additional information submitted by a Complainant, outside a limitation period, did not constitute a new complaint, was not patently unreasonable

28. March 2006 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Human Rights Tribunal – Powers under legislation – Legislative compliance – Human rights complaints – Discrimination – Judicial review – Procedural requirements and fairness – Limitations – Standard of review – Patent unreasonableness Lake City Casinos Ltd. v. British Columbia (Human Rights Tribunal), [2006] B.C.J. No. 115, British Columbia ...

The Court dismissed the Plaintiff’s claim for damages against the Defendant British Columbia Securities Commission (the “Commission”), among others, on the basis that the action itself was an abuse of process. The Plaintiff had fully exhausted his right of review of the Commission’s 1995 and 2003 decisions determining that he had failed to comply with his obligations as and officer and director of a publicly traded company and restraining him from acting in such a capacity in British Columbia for 17 years. This present action for damages was a collateral attack on those decisions and, as such was an abuse of the Court’s process. Additionally, the Plaintiff’s pleading that the Commission committed the tort of abuse of public office failed to set out the essential elements of the tort and, in any event, was vexatious, and should be struck out.

28. February 2006 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Securities Commission – Investigations – Director of corporation – Penalties – Judicial review – Abuse of public office – Procedural requirements and fairness – Disclosure – Relevance of information disclosed – No reasonable cause of action – Abuse of process Roeder v. Lang Michener Lawrence & Shaw, [2005] ...

A post-operative male–to-female transsexual (“Nixon”) appealed from a decision on judicial review which found that she was not discriminated against when the Vancouver Rape Relief Society (“Society”) refused to allow her to volunteer as a peer counsellor with their organization

24. January 2006 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Human Rights Tribunal – Human rights complaints – Discrimination – Gender – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation Vancouver Rape Relief Society v. Nixon, [2005] B.C.J. No. 2647, British Columbia Court of Appeal, December 7, 2005, Finch C.J.B.C., Southin and Saunders JJ.A. Nixon was born a male but underwent ...

The mother of a deceased disabled adult was unsuccessful in her appeal from a decision that the Human Rights Tribunal had no jurisdiction to continue to entertain the Human Rights complaint made on behalf of the disabled adult son where he had died before a hearing could be held

24. January 2006 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Human Rights Tribunal – Human rights complaints – Discrimination – Disability – Judicial review – Jurisdiction of tribunal – Parties – death of a party British Columbia v. Goodwin, [2005] B.C.J. No. 2593, British Columbia Court of Appeal, December 1, 2005, Hall, Low and Lowry JJ.A. Ms. Gregoire filed a ...

The court held that the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal was without jurisdiction over a complaint arising from the exclusion of women members from the Men’s Lounge at the Marine Drive Golf Club as the Men’s Lounge was not an “accommodations, service or facility customarily available to the public”

27. December 2005 0
Administrative law – Human rights complaints – Discrimination – Gender – Private clubs – Customarily available to the public – Definition – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Human Rights Tribunal – Jurisdiction – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Standard of review – Correctness Marine Drive Golf Club v. Buntain, [2005] B.C.J. No. 2181, British Columbia Supreme Court, ...

On judicial review of a decision of the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal, the court held that the Tribunal was within its statutory jurisdiction in making the damage awards it did and it did not err in finding liability for discrimination on the facts before it

27. December 2005 0
Administrative law – Human rights complaints – Discrimination – Disability – Remedies – Certiorari – Damages – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Human Rights Tribunal – Judicial review – Jurisdiction – Crown immunity – Standard of review – Patent unreasonableness British Columbia v. Bolster, [2005] B.C.J. No. 2365, British Columbia Supreme Court, October 27, 2005, Parrett J. The Province ...