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

'''NOTE: Procedural fairness in internal review processes:''' as a general rule, administrative tribunals are limited in the scope of their internal review processes to the specific grounds of review listed in their enabling legislation. This raises the question of whether an applicant is able to challenge an administrative tribunal’s decision on procedural fairness grounds if the enabling legislation for the tribunal does not explicitly include procedural fairness as one of the grounds for internal review. This question was recently addressed by the BC Supreme Court in ''Stelmack v Amaruso'' (14 July 2017), Vancouver S175091 (BCSC) (Please note that this case is unreported). The case involved a judicial review of an internal review by the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) which had failed to address a procedural fairness violation from the initial hearing because procedural fairness was not one of the three listed grounds for internal review in section 79(2) of the ''Residential Tenancy Act'', SBC 2002, c 78. The BC Supreme Court ruled that even if the enabling legislation does not list procedural fairness as a specific ground for internal review, arbitrators nonetheless must always consider issues of procedural fairness. The practical ramifications of this decision are currently unclear, but it opens the door to making procedural fairness arguments during all internal review processes in addition to the grounds listed in the tribunal’s enabling legislation.