The complainant alleged that several judges committed a series of inappropriate actions, including negligence, bias, obstruction of justice, fraud, and breaches of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms

20070003 - The complainant alleged that several judges committed a series of inappropriate actions, including negligence, bias, obstruction of justice, fraud, and breaches of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The complainant said that three of the judges and one of the parties named in the case were in a conflict of interest due to membership in the same Association. As one of the judges was a former counsel with the Attorney General’s office, it was alleged that he was in a conflict because the former Attorney General was a named respondent in the action. The complainant also said that the chief justices breached their obligation to assign competent, impartial judges to hear the case. The case involved two chief justices, who are therefore members of Council.

Ethical Principles for Judges, published by the Canadian Judicial Council, sets out principles to be considered by judges regarding issues of bias or prejudgment. On this point, it suggests that judges should disqualify themselves in cases in which they do not think they will be able to act impartially. However, the decision on whether or not to recuse from a case rests entirely with the judge. Only if a judge acts in bad faith, or wilfully conceals relevant information, can a matter of recusal become a matter of judicial conduct. The fact that judges and parties belong to the same Association does not preclude a judge from presiding, given the strong presumption in favour of judicial impartiality. There was no evidence to support the allegations of bias or prejudgement. Therefore, the allegation against the chief justices was also without foundation. Because the case involved two members of Council, the complaint and the proposed reply were reviewed by an outside lawyer for comment. The outside lawyer agreed with the decision to close the file without further investigation.