Adjudicative tribunals

Adjudicative tribunals²⁸ are independent bodies. They help make decisions for people who are unable to solve a problem themselves.²⁹ In particular, they reduce the courts’ workload and meet specific needs requiring specialized knowledge. The government is making increasing use of adjudicative tribunals, and their number has ballooned over the last 30 years. Some of the best-known tribunals are the social justice tribunals.

These tribunals are deemed to be government agencies for the purposes of the French Language Services Act, and all the services they provide must be available in French in designated areas. However, there are many adjudicative tribunals, and they deal with a wide range of subjects. As a result, deficiencies in French-language services are not unusual, and they affect people’s daily lives. The shortage of bilingual professionals, lack of French-language services, time required to transcribe decisions and have them translated into French, disregard for the client’s language preference, and long waits to obtain a hearing in French are obstacles to access to justice in French.

In addition, the Commissioner’s Office has been informed of a trend observed in some tribunals in remote areas: the default use of French-language mediation and hearings by videoconference and teleconference. It is true that this solution addresses the lack of bilingual professionals in some areas. However, it is worth considering whether there might be other alternatives out there.

There is another concern to the Commissioner. The terms of members of social justice tribunals are due to expire in 2017 and 2018. In the current situation, 16 appointed positions deemed to expire in 2017 that are affected by the 10-year rule policy. Approximately 15 appointed positions are expected to expire in 2018. Thus, there is a real danger that French-language services will not be available while designated bilingual positions are vacant. Staffing of positions remains at the core of many challenges associated with access to justice in French. The Commissioner’s Office will pay close attention to this issue.

28. According to research by the University of Ottawa’s Chaire de recherche sur la francophonie et les politiques publiques, there were 238 adjudicative tribunals in Ontario in 2005. For a complete list, see http://sciencessociales.uottawa.ca/crfpp/sites/sciencessociales.uottawa.ca.crfpp/files/annexes_10-2005.pdf (in French only) (page consulted in March 2017).

29. For more details, see https://csfontario.ca/en/rapports/ra1314/priorites-strategiques/justice/tribunaux-administratifs (page consulted in March 2017).