(Disponible en français)
The Licence Appeal Tribunal ("Tribunal") has developed the following Practice Direction for reconsideration requests. This Practice Direction provides general information only and is intended to explain the Tribunal's approach to applying Rule 18 of the Licence Appeal Tribunal Rules ("Rules"). Statutes, regulations, and the Rules and orders of the Tribunal will always take priority over this Practice Direction.
Reconsideration is a discretionary power, and Rule 18 sets a high threshold for when the Tribunal will exercise this power. A reconsideration is a limited, error-correcting exercise. It is not a new hearing or an appeal. It is a corrective mechanism which allows the Tribunal to correct overriding errors or fundamental evidentiary concerns.
A reconsideration will not be granted where a party disagrees with the decision and wishes to re-argue their case.
A party who wants the Tribunal to reconsider a decision must complete the form for requesting a reconsideration available on the Tribunal's website. The requesting party must provide supporting submissions, limited to ten (10) pages, double-spaced, that show how the decision falls into one of the categories for granting a reconsideration under Rule 18.2.
Requests for reconsideration must be made in writing, unless a party can establish that the written format will cause significant prejudice, or an accommodation request is made under the Human Rights Code and approved by the Tribunal.
The form for requesting a reconsideration, and accompanying submissions, must be filed with the Tribunal and served on the other parties within 21 days of the date of the decision.
Rule 5 sets out how the Tribunal counts days. It excludes the first day and includes the last day. Where the last day falls on a holiday as defined by Rule 2.7, then the deadline will be the next business day.
Pursuant to Rule 18.1, requests for reconsideration are only accepted for Tribunal decisions that finally dispose of an appeal. This means that requests for reconsideration for decisions and orders that relate to ongoing proceedings, such as production orders and adjournment orders, will not be considered.
A reconsideration involves two steps:
When the Tribunal receives a reconsideration request, it will first decide whether it will adjudicate the request. For a request for reconsideration to pass this stage, it must:
If the request does not meet all these requirements, the reconsideration request will not be adjudicated. Rather, the reconsideration request will be dismissed by the Tribunal. The parties will receive a letter confirming the dismissal.
If the Tribunal determines the screening stage has been met, it will then proceed to review the merits of the request for reconsideration.
The Tribunal Chair or delegate may assign the reconsideration request to the original member or to a different member. The reconsideration request will be decided by way of a written hearing.
Before the Tribunal makes an order under Rule 18.4(b) confirming, varying or cancelling the decision or order, or ordering a rehearing on all or part of the matter, the Tribunal will contact the parties for responding submissions and/or reply.
The Tribunal may dismiss a request for reconsideration under Rule 18.4(a) without requesting submissions from the parties.