A lawyer (“Regular”) was unsuccessful in appealing from a decision of the Law Society Discipline Committee which found that he had failed to act with integrity and to avoid questionable conduct in fulfilling his duties as a lawyer

24. January 2006 0
Administrative law – Barristers and solicitors – Disciplinary proceedings – Professional misconduct – Sale of assets – definition – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Law Societies – Penalties – Judicial review – Evidence Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador v. Regular, [2005] N.J. No. 372, Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court – Court of Appeal, December 5, 2005, C.K. ...

The Court found that a decision of the Chief Review Commissioner of the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Committee to refuse to allow the deduction of legal fees paid by the Applicant, when determining the amount of CPP disability benefits to be offset from workers compensation benefits, was neither unreasonable nor patently unreasonable

Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Workers Compensation Boards – Workers compensation – Benefits – Legal fees deductibility – Statutory provisions – Judicial review – Standard of review – Patent unreasonableness Williams v. Newfoundland and Labrador (Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission), [2004] N.J. No. 443, Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court, December 23, 2004, Orsborn ...

The court held that the Minister’s determination that there had not been a previous commitment to the Appellant with respect to a snow crab licence and that the condition respecting commencement of the processing operations had not been met were contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence and ought to be set aside. The matter was remitted back to the Minister for reconsideration.

28. December 2004 0
Administrative law – Fisheries – Permits and licences – Compliance with legislation – Powers under legislation – Abuse of ministerial discretion – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Ministerial orders – Judicial review – Evidence – Standard of review – Patent unreasonableness St. Anthony Seafoods Limited Partnership v. Newfoundland and Labrador (Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture), [2004] N.J. No. 336, ...

The Citizen’s Representative sought a declaration that it had jurisdiction to conduct an investigation under the Citizens’ Representative Act, 2001 S.N.L. c. C-14.1 (the “Act”) with respect to potential injustice arising from the provisions of section 65.1(1) of the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Act, S.N.L., c. W-11 (the “WHSC Act”) which provided for the payment of benefits to spouses of workers killed on the job. The court found that what the Citizens’ Representative sought to investigate was the legislation itself and not a decision or recommendation relating to a matter of administration by a department or agency of government and held that the Citizens’ Representative did not have jurisdiction to conduct such an investigation.

28. September 2004 0
Administrative law – Workers compensation – Benefits – Federal and provincial legislation – Judicial review – Jurisdiction of Citizens’ Representative – Ombudsman – Jurisdiction Newfoundland (Citizens’ Representative) v. Newfoundland (Minister of Environment and Labour), [2004] N.J. No. 257, Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court – Trial Division, July 20, 2004, Russell J. The WHSC Act provided for ...

The court held that the Council for Licensed Practical Nurses (the “Council”) was unreasonable in its approach to the assessment of the Respondent’s credibility and in its application of the standard of proof, holding that the evidence was not sufficiently cogent to safely sustain two of the complaints against the Appellant Nurse. However, the Council’s decision that the Nurse failed to maintain the ethical standards of practice of the profession was rationally supported by the evidence and it was not shown to be unreasonable.

27. July 2004 0
Administrative law – Nurses – Disciplinary proceedings – Professional misconduct or conduct unbecoming – Judicial review – Administrative decisions – Failure to provide adequate reasons – Evidence – Standard of review – Reasonableness simpliciter Gillis v. Council for Licensed Practical Nurses, [2004] N.J. No. 187, Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court – Trial Division, May 20, 2004, ...

The parents of children living in Labrador Straights in Newfoundland and Labrador claimed that their children have the right to be educated in the minority French language pursuant to Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom (“the Charter”), within the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The application was unsuccessful.

22. June 2004 0
Chubbs v. Newfoundland and Labrador, [2004] N.J. No. 174, Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court – Trial Division, May 6, 2004, Fowler, J. The parents of approximately 19 children sued for the right of their children to attend minority language instruction within their own community, rather than travelling over the Quebec border to attend school in ...

St. Anthony Seafoods Limited Partnership (“St. Anthony”) applied for an Order that the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture issue it a licence to process snow crab. The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture denied making any prior commitment to issue a licence for the processing of snow crab and the court agreed and dismissed the Plaintiff’s application.

28. October 2003 0
Administrative law – Fisheries – Permits and licences – Compliance with legislation – Powers under legislation – Judicial review – Procedural requirements – Legitimate expectations – Promissory estoppel St. Anthony Seafoods Limited Partnership v. Newfoundland and Labrador (Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture), [2003] N.J. No. 187, Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court – Trial Division, July 31, 2003, ...

The Workers’ Compensation Commission was unsuccessful in appealing a decision of the Trial Division which had overturned a decision of one of the Commission’s internal review specialists relating to whether or not the Commission was entitled to maintain a subrogated action. The Court of Appeal found that the decision of the internal review specialist was patently unreasonable as it resulted from an inappropriate approach to statutory interpretation.

23. September 2003 0
Administrative law – Workers compensation – Subrogated actions – Administrative decisions – Statutory provisions – Use – Definition – Statutory interpretation vs. judicial interpretation – Judicial review application – Standard of review – Patent unreasonableness Warford v. Weir’s Construction Ltd., [2003] N.J. No. 178, Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court – Court of Appeal, July 17, 2003, Cameron, ...

An employee of the Health Care Corporation of St. John’s was unsuccessful in her application to set aside the decision of the Human Rights Commission not to refer her complaint to a board of inquiry. The Court held that the Commission exercised its administrative screening function in a reasonable manner. The legislative scheme in the Human Rights Code, R.S.N. 1990, c.H-14 required the Court to show considerable deference to a decision of the Human Rights Commission. While it may have been preferable for the Commission to have provided fuller reasons, it was under no statutory obligation to do so. The reasons given by the Commission adequately indicated to the employee that, following a thorough investigation and review of the evidence, her complaint did not meet the Commission’s threshold level for referring the matter to a board of inquiry.

22. April 2003 0
Administrative law – Human rights complaints – Evidence – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Human Rights Commission – Judicial review – Failure to provide reasons – Standard of review – Reasonableness Spurrell v. Newfoundland (Human Rights Commission), [2003] N.J. No. 53, Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court – Trial Division, February 25, 2003, Adams J. An employee of ...

On appeal, a Human Rights complainant failed to establish that an adjudicator under the Human Rights Code, R.S.N. 1990, c.H-14, erred in failing to find discrimination on the basis of disability or that the Trial Division judge erred on appeal. The fact that her employer considered her prior use of sick leave in determining which of two employees should be awarded the position of “lead hand” porter did not amount to discrimination on the basis of physical or mental disability as the complainant’s absences from work did form evidence of a pattern of illness or injury which would indicate that degree of permanence or impairment necessary to prove disability.

22. April 2003 0
Administrative law – Human rights complaints – Discrimination – Disability – Definition – Judicial review – Standard of review – Correctness Evans v. Health Care Corporation of St. John’s, [2003] N.J. No. 61, Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court – Court of Appeal, March 6, 2003, Cameron and Welsh JJ.A. and Russell J. (ex officio) The complainant hospital ...