The Court dismissed a petition for judicial review of a decision of the Investigation Committee of the Respondent Association. The Petitioner had complained about a fellow member of the Respondent Association and the Investigation Committee decided not to refer the complaint to the Discipline Committee of the Respondent Association. The Petitioner lacked standing to bring a petition for judicial review of this decision of the Investigation Committee.

28. October 2008 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Association of Professional Engineers – Disciplinary proceedings – Investigations – Judicial review application – Parties – Standing in judicial review – Procedural requirements and fairness Emerman v. Assn. of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia, [2008] B.C.J. No. 1663, British Columbia Supreme Court, September 2, 2008, ...

A lawyer (“Igbinosun”) was successful in his appeal of a decision of the Hearing Panel of the Law Society of Upper Canada (the “LSUC”) where the Court found that the Hearing Panel failed to act judiciously in refusing Igbinosun’s request for an adjournment of the Hearing.

23. September 2008 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Law Societies – Barristers and solicitors – Professional misconduct / conduct unbecoming – Disciplinary proceedings – Penalties and suspensions – Public interest – Hearings – Conduct of hearings – Adjournment – Judicial review – Procedural fairness – Natural justice – Standard of review – Reasonableness simpliciter – ...

A decision of an appellate administrative tribunal, from which an unqualified right of appeal to an appellate court exists, on the issue of how long it should take a professional self-regulating disciplinary body to prosecute a disciplinary proceeding, is one which should be reviewed on a standard of reasonableness

26. August 2008 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Institute of Chartered Accountants – Accountants – Disciplinary proceedings – Judicial review – Investigations – Delay – Standard of review – Reasonableness simpliciter – Privative clauses – Stay of proceedings Hennig v. Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta, [2008] A.J. No. 707, 2008 ABCA 241, Alberta Court ...

The Court dismissed an application for judicial review of a decision of the respondent medical association, which by an order of its Council, directed an inquiry committee to hold a new hearing investigating the applicant’s actions. This application was premature because the inquiry committee’s decision was interlocutory in nature and the jurisdictional question exception did not apply. If the application was not premature, the standard of review was reasonableness and the Council’s decisions were reasonable.

22. July 2008 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Veterinary Associations – Veterinarians – Disciplinary proceedings – Judicial review application – Premature – Hearings – Conduct of hearings – Jurisdiction – Procedural requirements and fairness – Evidence – Standard of review – Reasonableness simpliciter Bajwa v. British Columbia Veterinary Medical Association, [2008] B.C.J. No. 1131, British ...

The applicant physician sought to quash a decision of the respondent College to proceed to a disciplinary hearing and to prohibit such a hearing when allegedly, the respondent’s decision not to proceed to hearing allowed by the governing statute had already been made. The applicant argued that the statutory power had been exhausted and there is no statutory authority to review or reconsider that decision. The court held that there was never an unconditional and final direction by the investigation chair that no further action be taken, and dismissed the application.

27. May 2008 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – College of Physicians and Surgeons – Disciplinary proceedings – Professional misconduct or conduct unbecoming – Judicial review – Statutory powers – Investigations – Hearings Ferrari v. College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, [2008] A.J. No. 262, Alberta’s Court of Queens Bench, March 10, 2008, Foster, J. ...

The Court ordered that a publication ban relating to an assessor’s report of Dr. Menon’s practice be dissolved where it was not satisfied that Dr. Menon had established that the salutary effects of the continuing ban outweighed its deleterious effects

27. May 2008 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – College of Physicians and Surgeons – Publication ban – Physicians and surgeons – Disciplinary proceedings – Competence – Suspensions – Judicial review – Disclosure – Evidence – Compliance with legislation Menon v. College of Physicians and Surgeons of New Brunswick, [2008] N.B.J. No. 124, New Brunswick Court ...

The appeal by a licensed practical nurse (“Coffey”) from a decision of a panel of the discipline committee of the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Manitoba (the “College”) finding him guilty of professional misconduct and conduct unbecoming a licensed practical nurse was dismissed where the court found that the conduct in question involved solicitation that contained false, inaccurate and misleading information which was circulated outside of the membership

27. May 2008 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – College of Licensed Practical Nurses – Nurses – Disciplinary proceedings – Professional misconduct or conduct unbecoming – Penalties and suspensions – Appeals – Judicial review – Standard of review – Reasonableness simpliciter – Evidence Coffey v. College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Manitoba, [2008] M.J. No. 116, ...

Duty of fairness in investigative stage is only limited, and investigating members authorized by the professional conduct committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants to investigate the complaint met their duty by advising the applicant accountant of the generalities of what was being investigated. There was no obligation to provide full particulars. However, the professional conduct committee’s recommendation to hold a hearing was subject to judicial review, prior to the hearing being held. The decision had a significant adverse effect on the applicant and, as the professional conduct committee owed a duty of fairness to the applicant accountant, that duty of fairness may be defeated if judicial review was unavailable. Finally, the professional conduct committee had jurisdiction to investigate matters not specified in the complaint because these matters were sufficiently closely related to the complaint, it was in the context of public interest, there was lack of precise technical knowledge on the part of the public, and the legislative powers to investigate a complaint given to the committee were broad.

22. April 2008 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Institute of Chartered Accountants – Accountants – Disciplinary proceedings – Investigations – Procedural fairness – Bias – Evidence – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation  – Jurisdiction – Public interest Swanson v. Institute of Chartered Accountants of Saskatchewan, [2007] S.J. No. 701, Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench, ...

The action by a real estate appraiser (“Egerton”) seeking to set aside the decision of the Appeal Board of the Appraisal Institute of Canada (“AIC”), which had confirmed the discipline of reprimand imposed on Egerton by the Adjudicating Committee of the AIC, was allowed where the Court found that AIC did not conduct the disciplinary process in a fair, open and impartial manner

25. March 2008 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Investigations – Role of investigator – Real estate appraisers – Disciplinary proceedings – Judicial review – Natural justice – Procedural requirements and fairness Egerton v. Appraisal Institute of Canada, [2008] O.J. No. 379, Ontario Superior Court of Justice, February 5, 2008, W. U. Tausendfreund The AIC is ...

A lawyer (Merchant) successfully obtained an order quashing a decision of the Law Society of Alberta (“Law Society”) disbarring him, on the basis that there was a reasonable apprehension of bias due to an ex parte communication between the chair of the hearing committee and a witness

22. January 2008 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Law Societies – Barristers and solicitors – Disciplinary proceedings – Penalties and suspensions – Judicial review – Procedural requirements and fairness – Bias – Reasonable apprehension of bias – test – Witnesses – Compliance with legislation – Remedies – Alternative remedies Merchant v. Law Society of Alberta, ...