Difference between revisions of "Review of Administrative Decisions for Public Complaints (5:III)"

For provincial tribunals to which the ''ATA'' applies, the Act provides: “questions about the application of common law rules of natural  justice and procedural fairness must be decided having regard to whether, in all of the circumstances, the tribunal acted '''fairly'''” (ss 58(2)(b) and 59(5)).

Tribunals have a common-law duty to act fairly.  At its most basic level, the doctrine of fairness requires that a party be given the opportunity to respond to the case against them.  The circumstances determine whether this response is a written objection or a full oral hearing.  As a corollary to the right to present one’s case, the legal maxim that only the people who hear the case may decide on it applies to tribunals.  The tribunal must meet quorum but need not be unanimous.