As amended and approved by the Discipline Committee on November 1, 2006 – effective January 1, 2007.
1 GENERAL MATTERS:
1.1 Citation:
These Rules may be cited as the Rules of Practice.
1.2 Interpretation:
These Rules shall be liberally construed to secure the just, most expeditious and least expensive determination of all proceedings before the Discipline Committee of the College (the "Discipline Committee").
1.3 Orders on Terms:
When making an Order under the Rules of Practice, the Discipline Committee may impose such terms and give such directions as are just.
1.4 Application of Rules:
1.4.1 The Rules of Practice apply to all proceedings of the Discipline Committee.
1.4.2 The Discipline Committee may exercise any of its powers under these Rules of Practice on its own initiative or at the request of a party or, an intervenor.
1.4.3 The Discipline Committee may issue general or specific practice directions at any time.
1.4.4 A failure to comply with these Rules is an irregularity and does not render a proceeding or a step, document or order in a proceeding a nullity.
1.4.5 The Discipline Committee may, only where it is necessary in the interest of justice, dispense with compliance of any Rule at any time.
1.4.6 A time prescribed by these Rules for serving, filing or delivering a document may be extended or abridged by consent, in writing.
2 COMPUTATION OF TIME:
2.1 In the computation of time under these Rules or an order of the Discipline Committee,
2.1.1 Where there is a reference to a number of days between two events, they shall be counted by excluding the day on which the first event happens and including the day on which the second event happens;
2.1.2 Where a period of less than seven days is prescribed, holidays shall not be counted. "Holidays" has the same definition as the Rules of Civil Procedure R.R.O. 1990, Regulation 194, as amended; and,
2.1.3 Where the time for doing any act under these Rules expires on a holiday, the act may be done on the next day that is not a holiday;
2.2 The Discipline Committee may by order extend or abridge any time prescribed by these Rules or in an order of the Discipline Committee on such terms as are just;
2.3 A time prescribed by these Rules or by an order of the Discipline Committee may be extended or abridged by consent of the parties in writing.
3 SERVICE:
3.1 "Service" means effective delivery of documentation to any person, or to the persons' lawyer or agent.
3.2 Service is deemed to be effective when delivered:
3.2.1 By personal service on the date of service;
3.2.2 By regular, registered, or certified mail on the fifth day after the day of mailing to the last known address of the person to be served;
3.2.3 By fax on the same day as the transmission to the last known fax number of the person to be served;
3.2.3.2 By e-mail on the same day as the transmission to the last known e-mail address of the person to be served;
3.2.4 By courier, including Priority Post, to the last known address of the person to be served, on the second full day after the document was given to the courier by the party serving,; or
3.2.5 As directed by the Discipline Committee;
3.3 Except in the case of personal service, the person to be served may subsequently establish that he or she, acting in good faith and through absence, accident, illness or cause beyond his or her control, failed to receive the notice in question at all, or did not receive it until a later date;
3.4 Documents delivered after 5:00 p.m. shall be deemed to have been served on the next day that is not a holiday;
3.5 Documents may be filed with the Discipline Committee by any of the methods of delivery set out in Rule 3.2, together with an Affidavit indicating who has been served with the documents and what documents have been so served;
3.6 A person who serves or files a document shall include with it a statement of the person's address, telephone number and facsimile number, if appropriate, and the name of the proceeding to which the document relates.
4 MOTIONS:
4.1 All procedural or interlocutory issues shall be raised in a motion as soon as possible and shall be heard on a day before the day upon which the hearing is scheduled to commence unless the nature of the motion requires that it be heard during the hearing itself.
4.2 Except when a motion is argued at a scheduled hearing date, the party bringing the motion shall file a copy of the Notice of Motion and obtain an appointment for the return date of the motion from the Chair of the Discipline Committee;
4.3 A moving party shall give written notice of a motion, and deliver materials in support of the motion, to all other parties, and file that notice and materials with the Discipline Committee, at least fifteen days in advance of the date that the motion is to be heard.
4.4 The other motion participants shall deliver their materials at least nine days in advance of the date that the motion is to be heard.
4.5 Where a motion participant intends to rely on a factum, written submissions or book(s) of authorities, such material must be delivered, in the case of the moving party, at least seven days in advance, and in the case of a responding party, at least three days in advance, of the date that the motion is to be heard.
4.6 A motion in a proceeding may be heard by a panel appointed to hear the motion, and consisting of one or more members of the Discipline Committee, as assigned by the Chair of the Discipline Committee;
4.7 A motion in a proceeding may be heard and determined by way of:
4.7.1 oral argument;
4.7.2 by means of a conference telephone call or video teleconference or otherwise electronically on an appointment obtained from the member or members of the Discipline Committee scheduled to hear the matter, or from the Chair of the Discipline Committee; or
4.7.3 in writing without the attendance of the parties.
4.8 If the panel’s decision regarding a motion is not made on the record during the hearing, then the panel that decides the motion shall issue a formal written order, signed by the Chair of that panel, and when the hearing commences then that order shall be entered as an exhibit to the hearing, and the order, together with a brief summary of the motion background, will be read into the record.
5 NOTICE OF CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS:
5.1 Where a party intends to raise a question concerning the constitutional validity or applicability of legislation, a regulation or by-law made under legislation, or a rule of common law, or where a party claims a remedy under s.24(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, notice of a constitutional question shall be served on the other parties and the Discipline Committee as soon as the circumstances requiring notice become known and, in any event, at least fifteen days before the question is to be argued;
5.2 Where the Attorneys General of Canada and Ontario are entitled to notice, he or she is entitled to adduce evidence and make submissions to the Discipline Committee regarding the constitutional question.
6 PREHEARING CONFERENCES:
6.1 The Discipline Committee expects the parties to attend, and may specifically direct the parties to attend, one or more prehearing conferences, and the parties may on their own initiative consent and arrange to attend at one or more prehearing conferences, for the purpose of considering any matter including:
6.1.1 Issues relating to disclosure and the exchange of information;
6.1.2 Identification and simplification of issues;
6.1.3 Identification of preliminary motions to be raised;
6.1.4 Procedural issues, including the dates by which any steps in the proceeding are to be taken or begun, the estimated duration of the hearing and the date that the hearing will begin;
6.1.5 Identification of intervenors and the scope of their participation at the hearing;
6.1.6 Identification of facts, documents or evidence that may be agreed upon;
6.1.7 The possibility of settlement of any and all issues between the parties;
6.1.8 Any other matter that may assist in the just and expeditious disposition of the proceeding;
6.2 Notice of Prehearing Conference shall be served on the parties at least fifteen days before the Prehearing Conference is scheduled to take place;
6.3 The Notice of a Prehearing Conference shall include:
6.3.1 The date, time, place and purpose of the Prehearing Conference;
6.3.2 Notice that the parties are required to exchange or file documents or a Prehearing Memorandum as prescribed in paragraph 6.7 of these Rules and, if so, the issues to be addressed and the day when they are required;
6.3.3 Whether the parties are required to attend in person, and
6.3.3.1 If so, that they may be represented by counsel or agent; or
6.3.3.2 If not, that their counsel or agent must be given authority to make agreements and undertakings on their behalf respecting the matters to be addressed at the Prehearing Conference;
6.3.4 Advice that the member of the Discipline Committee presiding at the Prehearing Conference may make orders with respect to the conduct of the proceeding which will be binding on all parties;
6.4 The Chair of the Discipline Committee may designate a member of the Discipline Committee or any other person to preside at the Prehearing Conference;
6.5 The person who presides at a Prehearing Conference may make such orders as he or she considers necessary or advisable with respect to the conduct of the proceeding;
6.6 The person who presides at a Prehearing Conference at which the parties attempt to settle all issues shall not form part of the panel of the Discipline Committee at the hearing of the proceedings, unless the parties consent;
6.7 Seven days prior to the Prehearing Conference, the parties shall serve on the other party, and file with the person presiding at the Prehearing Conference the Prehearing Memorandum in writing outlining the following:
6.7.1 Summary of the party's case, including factual contentions
6.7.2 List of issues to be determined at the hearing
6.7.3 List of outstanding motions to be brought at the hearing
6.7.4 Disclosure issues;
6.7.5 Identity of experts and acknowledgement that expert reports have been served;
6.7.6 Possibility of settlement;
6.7.7 Confirmation of readiness for the hearing.
6.8 A Prehearing Conference may be held in person, in writing or electronically by telephone conference call or via the Internet, with the consent of the parties and the person who presides at the Prehearing Conference;
6.9 A Prehearing Conference shall be held in the absence of the public unless the Discipline Committee directs that it be open to the public;
6.10 At the Prehearing Conference the person designated to preside at the Prehearing Conference may meet with each party separately to encourage settlement;
6.11 Any discussion of settlement at a Prehearing Conference and all statements made by the parties regarding settlement are made without prejudice and shall not be communicated to the hearing panel of the Discipline Committee;
6.12 Orders, agreements and undertakings made at a Prehearing Conference shall be recorded in a memorandum prepared by or under the direction of the person presiding at the Prehearing Conference;
6.13 Copy of the memorandum referred to in paragraph 6.12 above shall be provided to the parties and to the members of the Discipline Committee presiding at the hearing of the matter;
6.14 The orders, agreements and undertakings in the memorandum shall govern the conduct of the proceeding and are binding upon the parties to the proceeding unless otherwise ordered by the Discipline Committee;
7 DISCLOSURE:
7.1 "Document" includes a sound recording, videotape, file, photograph, chart, graph, plan, map, survey, book of account and information recorded or stored by means of any device;
7.2 A party to a hearing shall disclose to the other parties by ten days before the hearing, the existence of every document and thing that the party will refer to or give in evidence at the hearing;
7.3 Each party to a hearing shall, if requested:
7.3.1 Make available for inspection by the other party by ten days before a hearing all documents that the party will produce or enter as evidence at the hearing;
7.3.2 Deliver to each of the other parties by ten days before the hearing copies of all documents that the party will produce or enter as exhibits at the hearing;
7.4 If a party fails to comply with the provisions of section 7.3, the party may not refer to the document or thing or introduce the document or thing in evidence at the hearing without the consent of the Discipline Committee which may be on such terms and conditions as the Discipline Committee considers just;
7.5 A party to a hearing shall provide by ten days before the hearing to the other parties witness statements signed by witnesses to be called by that party, or for any witness where the statement does not exist, a statement of the evidence that the witness will give at the hearing;
7.6 A witness statement or statement of evidence that the witness is to give shall contain:
7.6.1 The substance of the evidence of the witness;
7.6.2 A list of documents, if any, the witness will refer to; and
7.6.3 The witness' name and address, or if the witness' address is not provided, the name of the person through whom the witness can be contacted;
7.7 If a party fails to provide a witness statement or a statement of evidence a witness will given in accordance with the provisions of section 7.6, the party may not call the person a witness without the consent of the Discipline Committee, which may be on such terms and conditions as the Discipline Committee considers just;
7.8 A party may not call a witness to testify to matters not disclosed in the witness statement without the consent of the Discipline Committee which may be on such terms and conditions as the Discipline Committee considers just.
