Canada Case Law

Irvine v. A.A.

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court held that a single defendant may seek dismissal of the entire proceeding where parties' positions are clear and no party is prejudiced by proceeding without pro-forma steps, and, applying the Giacomini framework, the plaintiff's delay was inordinate and largely inexcusable such that, in the interests of justice, the action is dismissed in its entirety for want of prosecution.

Source excerpt

• Want of prosecution
• Standing to bring interlocutory relief
• Publication ban and anonymity orders
• Striking pleadings
• Delay and prejudice

Read case analysis

MacLean v. Fraser

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The NSPRB breached procedural fairness and acted unreasonably by assuming jurisdiction over a public complaint that had not been referred by the Complaints Commissioner and by conducting the related hearing behind closed doors without appropriate notice to the media; the NSPRB’s decision is quashed and the matter is remitted to a differently constituted NSPRB panel to avoid reasonable apprehension of bias; costs awarded to the Chief Officer and the complainant.

Source excerpt

• Procedural fairness
• Jurisdiction
• Publication ban / open court principle
• Remittal
• Reasonable apprehension of bias
• Statutory interpretation

Read case analysis

Goodyer v. Canada (Attorney General)

Court

Federal Court

Judicial review of an RCMP discipline appeal was dismissed. The Court held the Applicant waived any oral-hearing complaint and found no reviewable error in the Commissioner’s decision.

• Procedural fairness
• Standard of review
• Sanctions
• Rcmp disciplinary process
• Judicial review
• Procedural-fairness

Read case analysis

Cape Breton (Regional Municipality) v. Nova Scotia

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Applying the reasonableness standard, the court upheld the Board's dismissal of discipline against Cst. Campbell and Cst. Fraser because the Board reasonably found their entry and photography were inadvertent, did not amount to an abuse of authority and were not discreditable; conversely, the court set aside the Board's reprimand of Cst. MacSween and Cst. Walker because the Board's reasons lacked a coherent logical chain explaining how discipline was warranted given the trial judge's finding that the officers had reasonable grounds to arrest and the Board made no finding of unlawful entry or…

Source excerpt

• Judicial review
• Standard of review
• Disciplinary default
• Warrantless entry
• Arrest procedure
• Reasonableness review

Read case analysis

Borden v. Nova Scotia Police Review Board

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The Review Board's decision was reasonable and is upheld because the factual findings and admissible evidence supported both the officers' subjective belief and its objective reasonableness to arrest, the brief duration of detention did not engage a practical right to counsel for which discipline was warranted, and there was no evidentiary basis to conclude racial profiling influenced selection or treatment of the applicant.

Source excerpt

• Judicial review
• Reasonableness standard
• Racial profiling
• Right to counsel
• Lawful arrest
• Police act complaints process

Read case analysis

British Columbia (Police Complaint Commissioner) v. Sandhu

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal allowed the Commissioner’s appeal, holding the unauthorized initiation of the investigation did not make the proceeding procedurally unfair.

• Jurisdictional error
• Reasonable apprehension of bias
• Remedial discretion
• Police act procedure
• External investigation
• Procedural-fairness

Read case analysis

Kohl v. Canada (Attorney General)

Court

Federal Court

Judicial review of an RCMP conduct appeal was dismissed. The Court upheld findings on procedural fairness, fresh evidence, and credibility.

• Judicial review
• Procedural fairness
• Reasonable apprehension of bias
• Admission of fresh evidence
• Standard of review
• Credibility findings

Read case analysis

Vellani v. Canada (Attorney General)

Court

Federal Court

Judicial review of an RCMP conduct appeal was dismissed. The Court found no breach of procedural fairness and held the dismissal sanction was reasonable overall.

• Procedural fairness
• Reasonableness review
• Disciplinary appeal
• Admission of new evidence
• Mental health mitigation
• Mcneil disclosure considerations

Read case analysis

O’Brien v. LeRue

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The Board reasonably concluded that failure to comply with the 30-day timeline in s.44(1) of the Police Regulations did not automatically oust jurisdiction given the public‑complaints context and consequences of a mandatory rule, and the Board’s merits finding that Constable O’Brien unreasonably and unprofessionally exercised police discretion—escalating a minor by‑law matter into arrests and searches—was supported by the evidence and reasonable under Vavilov; judicial review dismissed.

Source excerpt

• Reasonableness standard (vavilov)
• Police complaints process
• Jurisdiction
• Police discretion
• Code of conduct breaches

Read case analysis

Firsov v. Canada (Attorney General)

Court

Federal Court of Appeal

The Federal Court did not err: Insp. Warr and the Conduct Adjudicator acted within their statutory and procedural bounds, there was no demonstrated bias or denial of procedural fairness, the findings on Allegations #3 and #4 and the sanctions imposed were within a reasonable range, and novel issues raised on appeal were too late to consider; appeal dismissed.

Source excerpt

• Procedural fairness
• Reasonable apprehension of bias
• Judicial review
• Standard of review
• Rcmp code of conduct
• Conduct authority

Read case analysis