Royal Canadian Mounted Police Public Complaints Commission Rules of Practice (SOR/93-17)

Short Title

1 These Rules may be cited as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Public Complaints Commission Rules of Practice.

Interpretation

2 In these Rules,

Act

Act means the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act; (Loi)

Commission

Commission means the member or members assigned pursuant to subsection 45.44(1) of the Act; (Commission)

complainant

complainant means any member of the public who makes a complaint pursuant to subsection 45.35(1) of the Act; (plaignant)

complaint

complaint has the same meaning as in subsection 45.35(1) of the Act; (plainte)

hearing

hearing means a hearing to inquire into a complaint instituted pursuant to paragraph 45.42(3)(c) or subsection 45.43(1) of the Act; (audience)

hearing process officer

hearing process officer means any person who is appointed in accordance with subsection 45.31(2) of the Act and who is authorized to act on behalf of the Registrar at a hearing; (agent d’audience)

interested person

interested person means a person who satisfies the Commission that the person has a substantial and direct interest in a complaint before the Commission; (personne intéressée)

party

party has the same meaning as in subsection 45.45(15) of the Act; (partie)

record

record means the whole or any part of any book, document, transcript, paper, card, tape or other thing, in or on which information is written, recorded, stored or reproduced; (pièce)

Registrar

Registrar means any person who is appointed in accordance with subsection 45.31(2) of the Act and who is designated as Registrar by the Commission Chairman. (greffier)

Application

3 These Rules apply in respect of any proceedings with respect to a hearing conducted by the Commission in accordance with section 45.45 of the Act.

Dispensation of Rules and Substitution of Periods

• 4 (1) The Commission may dispense with any of these Rules where the circumstances and considerations of fairness require such dispensation so that the hearing may be conducted informally and expeditiously.

• (2) The Commission, on its own initiative or on a motion that requests an extension or abridgement of a period in which an act is to be done, may extend or abridge the period where the circumstances and considerations of fairness require the Commission to do so.

• (3) Where the Commission dispenses with the Rules in accordance with subsection (1) or extends or abridges a period in accordance with subsection (2), the Commission shall inform the parties and interested persons forthwith.

Filing of Records

• 5 (1) Where a record is to be filed with the Commission in accordance with these Rules or a direction of the Commission, the record may be filed with the Commission if the Commission is in session or with the Registrar by hand delivery, registered mail, courier, telex, facsimile or other means of communication where the necessary facilities for filing in such manner exist.

• (2) Subject to subsection (3), the day on which a record is filed is the day on which the record is received by the Commission or any person authorized by the Commission to receive records.

• (3) A record that is received by the Commission after five o’clock in the afternoon of a business day shall be deemed to be filed with the Commission on the next business day, unless the record is filed while the Commission is in session.

• (4) Any confidential record filed with the Commission shall be marked “Confidential/Confidentiel” and kept separate from the public record.

Service of Documents

• 6 (1) A document, other than a document referred to in section 47.2 of the Act, may be served

  • (a) by hand delivery, mail, courier, telex, facsimile or other means of communication if there are facilities for accepting service in such manner; and

  • (b) where service cannot be made in accordance with paragraph (a), by a notice that

    • (i) sets out the contents of the document to be served and states that the original document is filed with the Commission, and

    • (ii) is published twice within a period of seven days in a daily newspaper circulated in the place of the latest known residence of the person being served.

• (2) A document may be served

  • (a) on the Commission by leaving a copy of the document with a person who is authorized to accept service on behalf of the Commission;

  • (b) on a person who is not a child by leaving a copy of the document with the person, with the duly authorized counsel acting for the person or with another person who appears to be at least 16 years of age and who

    • (i) resides or is employed at the residence of the person being served, or

    • (ii) is employed at the principal office of the person being served as set out in any document filed during the proceedings; and

  • (c) on a person who is a child, by leaving a copy of the document with

    • (i) the child, if the child is at least 14 years of age, and

    • (ii) the father, the mother or the guardian of the child.

• (3) Service of any document is effected when the document is received by the Commission or a person referred to in subsection (2), or on the day following the day on which the last notice was published in a daily newspaper, in the case of service referred to in paragraph (1)(b).

• (4) Where a document is served on a person who may reply to the document within a certain period, the period commences at the time at which service of the document is effected in accordance with subsection (3).

• (5) Service of a notice of a hearing referred to in subsection 45.45(2) of the Act shall be effected at least 10 days before the day fixed for the hearing.

• (6) Any document to be served on a person shall set out the name or official title of the person.

• (7) Proof of service of a document served in accordance with this section shall be made by the person who served the document by filing, forthwith, a declaration under oath or a solemn affirmation with the Commission.

Requests for Records and Information

• 7 (1) A party or interested person may, in writing, request that any other party or interested person produce, forthwith, any of the following:

  • (a) any pertinent record that is in the person’s possession or control; and

  • (b) a full and adequate reply to the request, where the request is for information.

• (2) A request referred to in subsection (1) shall

  • (a) be addressed to a party or interested person;

  • (b) be delivered or, where the Commission requires that the request be served, served within the period established by the Commission; and

  • (c) be filed in accordance with subsection 5(1) and delivered to the other parties or interested persons.

• (3) In the case of a request for information, each item of information that is requested shall be numbered consecutively.

• 8 (1) Subject to subsection (2), a person to whom a request that is referred to in section 7 is delivered or served shall

  • (a) deliver a copy of the record or reply to the other parties or interested persons and file the record or reply in accordance with subsection 5(1); and

  • (b) in the case of a reply to a request for information, provide a full and adequate reply on a separate page for each item of the request.

• (2) Subject to any period that the Commission may establish, a person who does not comply with subsection (1) shall

  • (a) set out the grounds on which the refusal to comply is based;

  • (b) produce a statement that describes any other information or record that would be of assistance to the party or interested person who made the request; and

  • (c) deliver a copy of the grounds referred to in paragraph (a)  and, if applicable, the statement referred to in paragraph (b) to the parties and interested persons and file those copies in accordance with subsection 5(1).

• (3) A party or interested person who has made a request in accordance with section 7 and who has not received the record or a full and adequate reply may, by motion, request that the Commission order the production of the record or reply.

• 9 (1) Where a person does not comply with section 8, the person may not put in evidence at a hearing the record that the person did not deliver and file and that is to the person’s advantage unless the Commission is satisfied that there existed sufficient reasons for not complying with the request.

• (2) Where a party or interested person refuses to deliver and file a record, the person who made the request in accordance with section 7 may, where authorized by the Commission, introduce secondary evidence of the contents of the record.

Stay of Proceedings

10 Where a party or interested person has not complied with these Rules or any direction issued by the Commission, the Commission may stay the proceedings until the Rules or direction have been complied with or take such other steps as the Commission considers fair and reasonable so that the hearing may be conducted informally and expeditiously.

Issues to Be Determined

• 11 (1) The Commission may, at any time that there is an issue of jurisdiction, practice or procedure that should be decided before the proceedings are continued, determine the issue.

• (2) At any stage of the proceedings, the Commission may refer any question or issue of law, of jurisdiction or of practice and procedure to the Federal Court for a hearing and determination and the Commission may, pending the determination of the issue, order the whole or part of the proceedings to be stayed.

Conference

12 The Commission may, at any time, direct any party, interested person or the counsel of the party or interested person either to appear before the Commission at a specified time, date and place for a conference or to participate in a teleconference at a specified time and date for the purpose of considering the following issues:

• (a) the clarification and simplification of contentious issues;

• (b) the admission of particular facts or of information;

• (c) the official language in which the hearing will be conducted;

• (d) the procedure to be followed in connection with requests for records or information;

• (e) the procedure to be followed during the course of the hearing;

• (f) the exchange among parties or interested persons of records; and

• (g) any other matter that may aid in the clarification and simplification of the evidence and the preparation of the final report of the Commission.

• 13 (1) Any agreements reached in respect of the issues considered in accordance with section 12 shall be recorded

  • (a) in the case of a conference, in the minutes signed by the parties and interested persons attending the session at which the agreements are made and countersigned by the Commission member presiding at that session; and

  • (b) in the case of a teleconference, in minutes signed by the Commission member presiding at the session and the Commission shall deliver a copy of the minutes to the participating parties and interested persons.

• (2) Where an agreement on an issue referred to in section 12 cannot be reached, the Commission may decide the issue so that the hearing may be conducted informally and expeditiously.

• (3) The Commission shall deliver copies of any agreement referred to in subsection (1) and of any decision referred to in subsection (2) to the parties and the interested persons.

• (4) Subject to section 4, an agreement referred to in subsection (1), together with any decision of the Commission pursuant to subsection (2), shall govern the hearing.

Summons

• 14 (1) A party or interested person, on request, may obtain a summons in Form 1 set out in the schedule issued by the Commission and sealed with the Commission’s seal.

• (2) A summons referred to in subsection (1) shall be completed by the party or interested person on behalf of whom it is issued or the counsel for that party or interested person and shall contain the information required by Form 1.

• (3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), any party or interested person requiring the attendance of a witness during the hearing may forward the name and address of the proposed witness to the Registrar at least seven days before the witness is required to appear at the hearing, so that the Commission may issue a summons to that witness.