(Disponible en français)
The Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) is an independent, quasi-judicial agency and is one of thirteen tribunals in Tribunals Ontario. The LAT is comprised of two divisions: Automobile Accident Benefit Service (AABS) and General Service (GS).
Table of Contents
These Rules are made pursuant to s. 25.1 of the Statutory Powers Procedure Act (SPPA) and pursuant to s. 6 of the Licence Appeal Tribunal Act, 1999.
These Rules should be read and understood together with the SPPA and all other relevant statutes or regulations dealing with the specific type of proceeding before the relevant tribunal.
If there is a conflict between these Rules and any statute or regulation, the provisions of the statute or regulation prevail.
These Rules are known as the Licence Appeal Tribunal Rules.
These Rules apply to all new appeals filed with the Tribunal on or after October 2, 2017.
Matters filed with the Tribunal prior to the implementation of these Rules shall be dealt with in accordance with the Rules existing at the time.
These Rules apply generally to all appeals unless a Rule states otherwise.
“Special Rules” set out as Rules 21 through 23 are unique or additional Rules, or modifications of Rules, that apply only to particular types of proceedings.
“Appeal” includes any application, appeal, or claim before the LAT pursuant to a statute or regulation that gives the Tribunal the authority to hear the appeal.
The term “appeal” is used throughout these Rules for purposes of convenience. Other Tribunal documents and forms may reference “application” or “claim”; however, all are referred to as “appeals” for the purposes of these Rules.
“Appellant” means a person who has started an appeal with the Tribunal.
“Automobile Accident Benefits Service (AABS) Claim” means an application to the LAT pursuant to s. 280(2) of the Insurance Act seeking resolution of a dispute involving statutory accident benefits.
“Case Conference” has the same meaning as “Pre-Hearing Conference” as defined in the SPPA.
“Certificate of Service” means the form used to confirm the manner and time of delivery of a document.
“Contact information” includes:
“Day” means a calendar day.
“Business Day” means any day that is not a “holiday”.
“Holiday” means any Saturday, Sunday, statutory holiday, or other day on which the Tribunal’s offices are closed for business.
“Document” includes data and information recorded or stored by any means, including in electronic form.
“Electronic Format” means the format of an oral hearing, case conference, or other part of a proceeding before the Tribunal that is held by conference telephone call, video, internet, or any other form of electronic technology allowing persons to hear or see one another.
“Hearing” means a hearing (including the hearing of a motion) before the Tribunal in which a party has the opportunity to participate in any of written, in-person, or electronic formats.
“In-Person Format” means the format of an oral hearing, case conference, or other part of a proceeding before the Tribunal that is held by means of the parties or representatives attending before the Tribunal in person.
“Member” means a person appointed by Order-in-Council made by the Lieutenant Governor-in-Council to the Tribunal.
“Motion” means a request for an order or decision from the Tribunal to (a) rule upon its jurisdiction; (b) give directions concerning its procedures; or (c) make an order for any other purpose necessary to carrying out its functions.
“Objector” means, in the context of a public interest proceeding under the Liquor Licence Act, either:
“Particulars” means specific facts that clarify an allegation or assertion or provide additional information about a person’s statement.
“Party” means a person, association or corporation who has the right to participate in a proceeding and has notified the Tribunal of their intention to participate in the proceeding.
“Proceeding” means the entire Tribunal process from the start of an appeal to the time a matter is finally resolved.
“Public Interest Proceeding” means an appeal at the LAT under the Liquor Licence Act in which the Tribunal will determine whether the issuance of a licence to sell liquor would not be in the public interest having regard to the needs and wishes of the residents of the municipality in which the premises are located.
“Registrar” means the Registrar of the Tribunal.
“Representative” means a person who acts for a party in a proceeding and is authorized under the Law Society Act to represent a party in such a proceeding.
“Respondent” means the party identified as the respondent in an appeal or the party who is identified as the respondent under the applicable legislation.
“Response” means the response a respondent is required to provide in relation to an appeal or as may otherwise be specified by the Tribunal.
“Rules” means these Rules, i.e., Licence Appeal Tribunal Rules.
“SABS” means the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule, Ontario Regulation 34/10 (Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule—Effective September 1, 2010), made under the Insurance Act, as revised from time to time, or a previous version of the SABS.
“Tribunal”, means the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT).
“Written Format” means the format of a hearing, motion, or other part of a proceeding before the Tribunal which is held by means of exchange of documents, including submissions.
These Rules will be liberally interpreted to:
The Tribunal may vary or waive the application of any Rule or procedure, on its own initiative or at the request of a party, except where to do so is prohibited by legislation.
The Tribunal may make such orders or give such directions in proceedings before it to control its process or to prevent abuse of its process.
The Tribunal may issue Practice Directions or similar types of documents to provide further information about the Tribunal's practices or procedures.
The Tribunal may decline to process an appeal unless all of the following conditions are met:
The Tribunal will notify the party who filed the appeal if any of the above requirements are not met, and shall give the party such time as the Tribunal determines appropriate in the circumstances to comply with the requirements before declining to process an appeal under this Rule.
The Tribunal may dismiss an appeal without a hearing if:
Before dismissing an appeal under this Rule, the Tribunal shall:
The Tribunal may add a person as a party to a proceeding if the person has a significant interest in the proceeding.
A party as defined under Rule 2.16 and/or their representative as defined in Rule 2.20 must attend their in-person or electronic hearing before the Tribunal.
If an unforeseen event prevents a party from attending the start of the hearing, the party is responsible for contacting the Tribunal before the scheduled start time on the hearing notice. The party must advise the Tribunal of the nature of the unforeseen event that prevents a party from attending.
If a party, who has been given notice of a hearing in accordance with the SPPA, does not attend their in-person or electronic hearing within 30 minutes of the scheduled start time as stated in the hearing notice, the Tribunal may:
In determining whether to proceed with the hearing in the absence of a non-attending party, the Tribunal will consider the reasons for the non-attendance, if any.
If, after a hearing has commenced with the parties in attendance, a party is unable to attend part of the hearing, the party must advise the Tribunal of the reasons why they are unable to continue to attend. At the hearing, the Tribunal will consider the reasons for non-attendance, if any, and may:
If a representative of any party does not attend any part of an in-person or electronic hearing, the Tribunal will consider the reasons for non-attendance, if any, and may:
Despite Rule 1.4, this Rule applies to all appeals effective August 21, 2023.
Tribunal communications and proceedings (e.g., hearings, case conferences) may be conducted in English, in French, or in both languages.
Subject to Rule 20.7, if a party or a witness requires an interpreter in a language other than English or French in order to effectively participate in a proceeding, the party shall notify the Tribunal not less than 14 days before the hearing or case conference, and the Tribunal will either arrange for an interpreter at the expense of the party or approve the use of an interpreter of the party’s choosing at the expense of the party.
All written communications with the Tribunal in relation to an appeal must be made through the Office of the Registrar and must include current contact information.
Unless a Rule indicates otherwise, all communications, other than a request for summons, must be copied to the other parties.
A party or a party’s representative must notify the Tribunal and the other parties or their representatives, in writing, as soon as possible, of any change in their contact information.
Where an action is to be done within a specified number of days, the days are counted by excluding the first day and including the last day.
Where the time for doing an act ends on a holiday, the act may be done on the next day that is not a holiday.
Documents must be filed with the Tribunal, sent by the Tribunal, or served on a party, as the case may be, in one of the following ways:
Where a document is served by a party, filed with the Tribunal, or sent by the Tribunal, receipt is deemed to have occurred when served or sent by:
The previous Rule does not apply if the person for whom the document was intended establishes that through absence, accident, illness or other cause beyond that person's control, the document was not received until a later date or not at all.
A notice or document not given in accordance with this Rule shall be deemed to have been validly filed, served, or sent if the Tribunal is satisfied that its contents came to the attention of the person to whom it was intended within the required time period.
Documents received by the Tribunal after 5:00 PM will be deemed to have been received on the next day that is not a holiday.
When a document in a proceeding is served on a person or party, the party serving the document must:
Parties, representatives and witnesses are entitled to accommodation of Ontario Human Rights Code-related needs, including accessibility needs, and should notify the Tribunal as soon as possible if such accommodation is required.
The Tribunal may issue a summons, on its own initiative or at the request of a party, requiring any person as defined in the SPPA, or a party:
The Tribunal will only issue a summons for witnesses, documents or things that are relevant to the issues in dispute and admissible at a hearing.
A request for summons must be filed with the Tribunal using the form provided on the Tribunal's website. The requesting party must demonstrate the relevance of the request to the issues in dispute.
Unless otherwise ordered by the Tribunal, the approved summons must be served on the person summoned no later than 10 days before the hearing. The requesting party must file their request in a timely manner so that the Tribunal can adjudicate and issue the summons in advance of the deadline for service.
The requesting party must serve a copy of the approved summons on the other parties when it is served on the person summoned.
Service of a summons and payment of attendance money is the responsibility of the party that requested the summons. A party summonsing a person to attend before the Tribunal is required to pay that person the same fees or allowances as the person would be paid if attending before the Superior Court of Justice (Ontario). Fees and allowances are to be calculated in accordance with Tariff A of the Rules of Civil Procedure.
Despite Rule 1.4, this Rule applies to any request for summons filed on or after August 21, 2023.
Despite Rule 1.4, this Rule also applies to any summons issued by the Tribunal on its own initiative on or after August 21, 2023.
The parties shall exchange all documents, witness lists, and anything else they intend to rely on as evidence at the hearing.
The Tribunal may, at any stage in a proceeding, order any party to provide such further particulars, disclosure, and production of documents and things that the Tribunal considers relevant to the issues in dispute in the proceeding.
Before requesting a production order from the Tribunal, a party must make reasonable efforts to obtain the document or thing without a production order.
A party may request an order from the Tribunal ordering another party to:
The Tribunal will not make an order for the production of any document or thing that is not relevant to the issues in dispute in the proceeding, or that is unduly repetitious.
A party seeking production from a non-party may request an order from the Tribunal by filing a notice of motion and serving it on the other parties and the non-party. The notice of motion must provide contact information for the non-party.
The Tribunal may order a non-party to disclose or produce any document or thing that the Tribunal considers relevant to the issues in dispute in the proceeding.
The requesting party must make reasonable efforts to obtain the document or thing without a production order.
Before an order is granted by the Tribunal, the non-party will have an opportunity to make submissions as set out in the notice of motion hearing.
If a party fails to comply with any Rule, direction or order with respect to disclosure, exchange, production, or inspection of documents or things, that party may not rely on the document or thing as evidence without the permission of the Tribunal.
If a party fails to comply with any Rule, direction or order with respect to the exchange or production of witness lists, the party may not call a witness who is not included on a witness list filed in compliance with the Rules, direction or order to give evidence without the permission of the Tribunal.
Parties will have an opportunity to make submissions before the Tribunal determines:
When making its determination, the Tribunal may consider any relevant factor, including:
Documents and things exchanged between the parties pursuant to Rules 9.4.1 and 9.4.2 must not be filed with the Tribunal unless a party is ordered to do so.
Document Exchange Before the Case Conference
The requirement for document exchange between the parties begins as soon as the application is filed with the Tribunal.
Rule 20.4 provides that at least 10 days before a scheduled case conference, each party must file a case conference summary in such form as required by the Tribunal. The parties are required to verify in the case conference summary that the documents and things in the party's possession, which the party intends to rely on at the hearing, have been provided to the other parties.
At the case conference, the Tribunal may make orders for productions pursuant to Rule 14 and set deadlines for any document exchange that has not yet taken place between the parties.
If an earlier exchange date has not been ordered by the Tribunal, then by no later than 45 calendar days before the hearing, the parties must exchange:
No later than 21 days before an electronic or in-person hearing, each party must file with the Tribunal and serve on the other party:
The parties should file a single, joint brief with the Tribunal whenever possible.
The Tribunal considers materials that are filed and served less than 21 days before an electronic or in-person hearing to be filed late.
The Tribunal will consider late filed materials as a preliminary issue at or before the hearing. The parties will have an opportunity to make submissions before the Tribunal determines:
In making this determination, the Tribunal may consider any relevant factor, including the factors set out in Rule 9.3.
The deadline for filing and serving submissions and hearing briefs for written hearings will be set by order of the Tribunal. Written hearing briefs must be filed with the Tribunal as an indexed, tabbed and consecutively page numbered PDF, and only include the evidence and authorities a party intends to rely on at the hearing.
Unless otherwise ordered by the Tribunal, at least 10 days before a scheduled case conference, each party must file a list of documents they intend to rely on at the hearing, which must also be served on the other parties.
No later than 10 days before the hearing, or at any other time ordered by the Tribunal or undertaken by the party, each party shall:
The parties should file a single, joint brief with the Tribunal whenever possible.
Despite Rule 1.4, this Rule applies to any appeal commenced on or after August 21, 2023, and to any appeal commenced before August 21, 2023 for which the first notice of case conference is issued on or after August 21, 2023.
For the purpose of these Rules, an expert witness is a person who is qualified to provide professional, scientific, or technical information and opinion based on special knowledge acquired through education, training or experience in respect of the matters on which they will testify.
A party who intends to rely on the evidence of an expert witness shall provide every other party with the following information in writing:
If not otherwise ordered by the Tribunal, the information required by Rule 10.2 must be:
A party intending to challenge an expert witness' qualifications, report, or witness statement must:
Despite Rule 1.4, this Rule applies to any appeal commenced on or after August 21, 2023, and to any appeal commenced before August 21, 2023 for which the first notice of case conference is issued on or after August 21, 2023.
Notice of a constitutional question shall be served on the Attorney General of Canada, the Attorney General of Ontario and all other parties, and delivered to the Tribunal in the following circumstances:
A Notice of Constitutional Question Form must be delivered as soon as the circumstances requiring the notice become known and, in any event, at least 15 days before the question is to be argued.
In accordance with applicable provisions of the SPPA, the Tribunal may hold a hearing or case conference in any of the following formats, as it considers appropriate:
The Tribunal may provide public access to the following documents:
The Tribunal will not provide public access to any other documents including correspondence between the parties and the Tribunal, documentary or other evidence submitted by the parties but not admitted in a proceeding, case conference reports, and settlement discussions.
The Tribunal may limit access to a recording and to a record of proceedings or, during a proceeding, make an order at the request of one of the parties or on its own motion, limiting public access to all or part of any document, record, hearing to protect confidentiality of personal or sensitive information, as it considers appropriate in relation to:
The Tribunal may record an in-person or electronic hearing. Where a hearing is recorded, the recording does not form part of the Tribunal's record of proceedings including any record filed in respect of an application made under the Judicial Review Procedures Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.J.1.
A party who wishes to make his or her own recording of a hearing may do so if authorized by the Tribunal and subject to the party undertaking to comply with any restrictions on use of the recordings specified by the Tribunal. Requests for permission to make recordings must be made in writing to the Tribunal at least 10 days prior to a hearing and the request must be copied to the other parties. The other parties may make submissions on the request in the time specified by the Tribunal. A recording made by a party does not become part of the Tribunal's record of the hearing. A party who makes a recording must provide a copy to all other parties and, upon request, to the Tribunal.
A party who wishes to retain a court reporter for a hearing may do so if they advise the Tribunal and the other parties in writing at least 10 days before the hearing.
A party who retains a court reporter for a hearing does so at that party's expense and must ensure that all other parties have an equal right to request, at their own expense, a transcript from the court reporter.
If a party requests a transcript, it is the responsibility of the requesting party to provide a certified copy of the transcript to the Tribunal upon request and at no cost to the Tribunal.
Despite Rule 1.4, this Rule applies to all appeals effective July 1, 2024.
The Tribunal may issue procedural or administrative directions as necessary for the conduct of the proceeding and may make such further orders as the Tribunal deems necessary.
The Tribunal may on its own initiative, or in response to a party's written request, direct the parties to participate in a case conference to consider:
A Member who presides at or otherwise takes part in a case conference shall not participate as a Member of a panel at a subsequent hearing of the appeal except with the consent of the parties.
The case conference is an important opportunity to discuss settlement of the issues without the need for a hearing. The parties are expected to come to the case conference prepared to discuss settlement.
All settlement discussions in a case conference and the documents put forward solely for the purpose of settlement are confidential. Settlement discussions are held on a "without prejudice" basis. Settlement discussions shall not be communicated to the Member that participates in the hearing or otherwise be relied on in a hearing before the Tribunal for any purpose unless the parties consent.
A case conference is not open to the public unless the Tribunal so directs.
A party as defined under Rule 2.16 must attend their case conference.
If an unforeseen event prevents a party from attending the case conference, the party is responsible for contacting the Tribunal before the scheduled start time on the notice of case conference. The party must advise the Tribunal of the nature of the unforeseen event that prevents the party from attending.
If a party who has been given notice does not attend their case conference within 10 minutes of the scheduled start time, the Tribunal will consider the reasons for non-attendance, and may:
Despite Rule 1.4, this Rule applies to any appeal commenced on or after August 21, 2023, and to any appeal commenced before August 21, 2023 for which the first notice of case conference is issued on or after August 21, 2023.
A party bringing a motion must file with the Tribunal:
The moving party must serve the notice of motion and all supporting submissions on the other parties before filing with the Tribunal.
Motion hearings may be conducted electronically, in-person, or in writing. The Tribunal will determine the format of the motion hearing.
A party may request to have the motion heard at a scheduled adjudicative event.
The Tribunal may order a motion to be heard at a scheduled adjudicative event.
Before a motion is granted, the Tribunal may provide the responding parties with the opportunity to make submissions. The Tribunal may also provide the moving party with the opportunity to make reply submissions.
Parties must serve responding and reply submissions on the other parties before filing with the Tribunal.
A representative may attend a motion hearing on behalf of a party. If attending on behalf of a party, the representative must have instructions on all issues being heard at the motion hearing.
Despite Rule 1.4, this Rule applies to any motion filed with the Tribunal on or after August 21, 2023.
A request for an adjournment of any adjudicative event at the Tribunal, including a case conference, motion hearing, settlement conference, or electronic, in-person, or written hearing must be made using the form for requesting an adjournment on the Tribunal's website.
The completed form must be served on the other parties prior to being filed with the Tribunal and must include all submissions and evidence in support of the request. Submissions must not exceed 5 double-spaced pages in length and must include:
Failure to provide a completed form and supporting submissions and evidence will result in the request not being considered by the Tribunal.
Despite Rule 16.1, a request for an adjournment may be made orally before a Member at the adjudicative event.
Oral requests will only be allowed in compelling circumstances where the party did not and could not have known of the circumstances giving rise to the adjournment request prior to the event.
The Tribunal may also direct that the request for an adjournment be heard at the event.
When considering whether to grant an adjournment request, the Tribunal may consider any of the following factors:
Following the denial of an adjournment request, the Tribunal will not consider any further adjournment requests for the same event that are made for essentially the same reason(s) as the initial request. This prohibition applies to any party to the proceeding.
If there are new and exceptional circumstances, a party can submit a new form for requesting an adjournment with supporting submissions, as set out in Rule 16.1, for the same event.
When applying the "new and exceptional circumstances" standard, the Tribunal will consider "new" to mean that the information was not known, and could not have been known, at the time of the first request, and "exceptional" to mean something extraordinary or beyond the parties' control.
Despite Rule 1.4, this Rule applies to any request for adjournment made orally or filed with the Tribunal on or after August 21, 2023.
The Tribunal may at any time:
The Tribunal may reconsider any decision of the Tribunal that finally disposes of an appeal if:
The request for reconsideration will be heard by written submissions. It may be heard by the same member whose decision is the subject of the request, or by another member.
The Tribunal shall not make an order under 18.4(b) unless satisfied that one or more of the following criteria are met:
Responding parties will have an opportunity to make submissions before any order is made under 18.4(b).
Upon reconsidering a decision of the Tribunal, the Tribunal may:
If the Tribunal orders a rehearing of the matter, the Tribunal may issue procedural and administrative directions and any such further orders as the Tribunal deems necessary.
At the discretion of the Chair or delegate, the Tribunal may, on its own initiative, review any decision of the Tribunal. The Tribunal's review shall take place within a reasonable time after the decision or order is made.
When conducting a review on its own initiative, the Tribunal shall not make an order under Rule 18.4(b) unless it is satisfied that one or more of the criteria in Rule 18.2 are met. Before making such an order, the Tribunal will provide the parties with an opportunity to make submissions.
Despite Rule 1.4, this Rule applies to any request for reconsideration of a decision or order issued on or after August 21, 2023, and any review on the Tribunal's own initiative of a decision or order issued on or after August 21, 2023.
Where a party believes that another party in a proceeding has acted unreasonably, frivolously, vexatiously, or in bad faith, that party may make a request to the Tribunal for costs.
A request for costs may be made to the Tribunal in writing or orally at a case conference or hearing, at any time before the decision or order is released.
The Tribunal may order that a party making a request orally under Rule 19.2 shall provide written submissions to the Tribunal and all other parties within 7 days of that oral request. A submission on costs shall set out the amount being requested.
A submission on costs shall set out the reasons for the request and the particulars of the other party's conduct that are alleged to be unreasonable, frivolous, vexatious, or in bad faith.
In deciding whether to order costs and the amount of costs to be ordered, the Tribunal shall consider all relevant factors including: the seriousness of the misconduct; whether the conduct was in breach of a direction or order issued by the Tribunal, whether or not a party's behaviour interfered with the Tribunal's ability to carry out a fair, efficient, and effective process; prejudice to other parties; and the potential impact an order for costs would have on individuals accessing the Tribunal system.
The Tribunal may deny or grant the request for costs or award a different amount than requested.
The amount of costs shall not exceed $1000 for each full day of attendance at a motion, case conference or hearing.
Rule 20 applies to AABS Claims pursuant to the Insurance Act only. All other Tribunal Rules also apply to AABS Claims except to the extent varied or negated by this Rule.
A response to an AABS Claim shall be provided by a respondent, in the form specified by the Tribunal, within 14 days of the respondent having been served with the AABS Claim, or within such other period as may be specified by the Tribunal.
A response to an AABS Claim must clearly detail any jurisdictional issues that the respondent seeks to have considered by the Tribunal.
At least 10 days before a case conference, each party must file a case conference summary in such form as required by the Tribunal. The case conference summary must also be served on the other parties.
The case conference summary shall include:
If a party does not file a case conference summary in compliance with this Rule, the Tribunal will take into account the party's non-compliance when:
Parties should exchange settlement offers in advance of the case conference and be prepared to discuss settlement at the case conference.
Written offers for settlement must not be filed with the Tribunal.
Where two or more AABS Claims have been made involving the same parties or the same accident, the Tribunal may:
Where a party gives notice pursuant to Rule 4.2 regarding the need for an interpreter, the Tribunal shall arrange for an interpreter at the Tribunal's expense, despite Rule 4.2.
Despite Rule 1.4, this Rule applies to any appeal commenced on or after August 21, 2023, and to any appeal commenced before August 21, 2023 for which the first notice of case conference is issued on or after August 21, 2023.
Rule 21 applies only to applications to the Tribunal under s.11 (4) of the Liquor Licence and Control Act 2019 to remove a condition of a licence.
All other Tribunal Rules also apply to these applications, except to the extent varied or negated by these Rules.
A Licensee may file an application to the Tribunal for the removal of one or more conditions on a liquor sales licence under section 11 (4) of the Liquor Licence and Control Act 2019 by completing the Tribunal’s Application to Remove Conditions from a Liquor Licence form and submitting it together with the prescribed filing fee and any other documentation that the Licensee considers necessary and appropriate to assist the Tribunal in arriving at its decision. The Licensee shall serve the application on the Registrar under the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and file it with the Tribunal together with a Certificate of Service.
Within 15 days of receipt of the application, the Registrar under the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario shall serve on the Licensee and file with the Tribunal, together with a Certificate of Service, reply submissions that set out the Registrar under the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario's position, with reasons, with respect to the Licensee’s application. The reply submissions will include the original decision, any consents or orders imposing the condition and any other documents the Registrar under the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario considers necessary to assist the Tribunal in arriving at its decision.
Rule 22 applies only to public interest proceedings under the Liquor Licence and Control Act 2019.
In a public interest proceeding pursuant to the Liquor Licence and Control Act 2019, objectors for whom the Tribunal has complete mailing or e-mail addresses shall be given notice of the first case conference in the proceeding. An objector who attends a case conference or has a representative attend on their behalf shall be given notice of the next case conference or hearing.
If an objector does not attend a case conference for which they had notice, and does not have a representative attend on their behalf, the Tribunal may proceed without their participation and a binding settlement may be reached between the parties. The objector is not entitled to further notice of the proceedings.
An objector, including an individual, a group of objectors, a residents’ association, or a municipality, may ask to be made a party in a public interest proceeding, which request shall be made before or at the case conference.
An objector who is made a party to a public interest proceeding has the right to participate in the proceeding.
An objector who is not a party may still give evidence at the hearing and have their views considered.
Rule 23 applies to appeals pursuant to the Highway Traffic Act. All other Tribunal Rules also apply to these appeals, except to the extent varied or negated by this Rule.
Appeals under the following sections of the Highway Traffic Act (HTA) are scheduled to be heard within 30 days of receipt of a complete appeal:
Disclosure in appeals respecting the suspension or cancellation of a driver's licence, as set out in 23.2(a), shall be made:
Disclosure in the HTA appeal types set out in 23.2 (b), (c) and (d) shall be made:
For clarity, the timelines in Rules 10.3 and 10.4 do not apply to HTA appeals.
Despite Rule 1.4, this Rule applies to all appeals effective August 21, 2023.
This Rule applies to representatives as defined in Rule 2.20.
A party may be self-represented, or they may have a representative. In keeping with Rule 2.20, representatives are required to be authorized under the Law Society Act to represent a party in the proceeding and they must comply with the Law Society Act, applicable guidelines, and rules of professional conduct.
If a party wishes to have a representative, the representative must:
The Tribunal will not recognize a representative unless a completed form has been filed and served.
If a party wants to change their representative, the new representative must file a form for the declaration of a representative with the Tribunal and serve a copy on all other parties.
If, after having a representative, a party subsequently chooses to proceed without a representative, they must notify the Tribunal and the other parties in writing. No further steps are required.
A representative may remove themselves as a party's representative by filing a completed form for the removal of a representative with the Tribunal and serving a copy of the form on their client and the other parties. The withdrawing representative must confirm that:
No further steps are required if:
If a representative is seeking to remove themselves as a party's representative less than 30 calendar days before the next adjudicative event, the representative must receive an order from the Tribunal before being removed as the representative unless:
If the representative is seeking an order from the Tribunal, they must file with the Tribunal and serve on their client:
The representative seeking to withdraw must also serve the form and notice of motion on the other parties. The representative is not required to serve the supporting material on the other parties.
The Tribunal will set the format for hearing the motion.
The Tribunal may hear the motion as a preliminary issue at the start of the next adjudicative event.
If the Tribunal orders an in-person or electronic hearing of the motion, the representative must attend the hearing of the motion.
A representative bringing a motion under Rule 24.5 who files materials with the Tribunal that are subject to privilege or that could, if disclosed to another person, be prejudicial to the client, must notify the Tribunal that the materials contain privileged and/or prejudicial information.
The Tribunal may make a confidentiality order for any privileged and/or prejudicial information relating to the request for withdrawal. The order may be made at the request of a party, the withdrawing representative, or on the Tribunal's own initiative.
The representative must redact or omit the privileged and/or prejudicial information from the notice of motion and from the materials served on a party other than the client pursuant to Rule 24.5.
The Tribunal will use the information contained in the motion and supporting materials solely for the purpose of adjudicating the request for withdrawal.
A member who presides or otherwise takes part in a motion hearing for:
must not participate at the hearing of the appeal.
Upon review of a request for removal under Rule 24.5, the Tribunal may:
The Tribunal may consider any relevant factor, including but not limited to:
For clarity, Rule 16 and any related Practice Direction apply to requests for adjournment arising from the withdrawal of a representative.
Despite Rule 1.4, this Rule applies to all appeals effective August 21, 2023.