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Practice Direction on Case Management
The Tribunal uses case management to ensure efficiency and fairness are achieved while moving its cases towards a timely resolution. This Practice Direction explains how the Tribunal applies case management in pre-hearings and hearings.
Scheduling of Pre-Hearing
A pre-hearing conference (PHC) will be scheduled when a matter is referred to the Tribunal. The date and time scheduled will be set out in the introduction letter sent to the parties. If either party is unavailable, they must consult the other party and provide two dates and times on which both parties are available within two weeks of the original date.
Purpose of the Pre-Hearing Conference
The pre-hearing chair works with the parties with the goal of resolving issues and making the hearing of disputed issues as efficient and expeditious as possible. You may expect to discuss:
The pre-hearing chair acts in a dual role. As pre-hearing chair, they will work to achieve an appropriate resolution in whole or in part of the matter. As case management chair, they control and direct the discipline process to ensure it proceeds in an efficient and timely way.
The pre-hearing chair will prepare a report on the PHC that includes agreements reached, undertakings made and case management directions given, This may include matters such as scheduling motions (e.g. disclosure, severance, third party records), directions regarding expert witnesses and the delivery of expert reports, fixing dates for the delivery of motion materials and oral argument on motions and fixing dates for the hearing on the merits. It is expected that parties will comply with case management directions and orders as with other Tribunal orders. Compliance with the Tribunal’s rules and procedural orders on the scheduling of steps leading to a hearing is critical to ensuring that the scheduled hearing dates are maintained, and unnecessary delays or adjournments are avoided. Failure to do so may be considered when the matter of costs is put before the panel.
- identification or clarification of issues in dispute
- what facts can be agreed upon
- whether there are any uncontested facts
- whether the parties can reach a joint submission on liability
- whether there are any agreements on penalty
- any outstanding disclosure issues and how to resolve them
- the order in which witnesses will testify
- whether an expert witness will be called and, if so, whether any party objects
- requests for more specific witness statements
- a schedule for witness testimony and/or time limits for questioning witnesses
- other preliminary or procedural issues.
Changes to Hearing Dates After the PHC
Parties must inform the Tribunal Office as soon as they know more days will be required for a hearing, or that the hearing will not take as long as initially scheduled. The Tribunal Office will attempt to obtain the earliest dates available to meet the objective of timely completion of hearings.
Additional Case Management Conference in Contested Hearings
In contested hearings an additional case management conference will be held no later than three weeks before the hearing date to ensure that the time scheduled is sufficient and to deal with any procedural issues. The Tribunal Office may schedule an earlier case management conference where a party requests the case management chair to assist or on the Tribunal’s own initiative.
Scheduling a Penalty Hearing
The requirement of public safety and protection will be the paramount factor in the scheduling of a penalty hearing following a finding. In the normal course the Tribunal will schedule a penalty hearing within two weeks of making its finding against a member. If the Tribunal Office cannot obtain an agreed date for the penalty hearing within that time, a scheduling conference shall be set with the hearing panel chair or another panel member to schedule the dates for the penalty hearing.
Approved: October 1, 2013; effective January 6, 2014; revised September 1, 2021