Two Important Cases For Regulatory Bodies On The Ontario Human Rights Code

Background

The recent Divisional Court decision of Ontario (Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services) v. De Lottinville1 considered the authority of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ("Tribunal") to dismiss a human rights application where the applicant has also brought a complaint, arising out of the same facts, to a professional regulatory body. In De Lottinville, the Divisional Court heard together two applications for judicial review, one from a police officer and the other from a doctor, in a "test case" representing an important development in the Tribunal's jurisprudence.

S. 45.¹ of the Human Rights Code² gives the Tribunal the authority to dismiss a human rights application, in whole or in part, where its substance has been appropriately dealt with in another proceeding. The Divisional Court recognized that the common law principles of finality, judicial economy and consistency are "important ingredients of a fair legal system."³ However,