Scheduling discipline hearings is difficult. In order to get to
a hearing, the regulator often needs to coordinate the schedules of
many very busy people. Once the regulator finally has all those
people together, it can be frustrating to then receive a request
for an adjournment.
Most professional regulatory legislation does not have specific
direction addressing adjournment applications. So what
is the best way to deal with requests for adjournments?
The regulator is not required to grant every adjournment
request, but it must carefully consider each request, and must
grant an adjournment when appropriate.
General Principle
Although the decision to grant an adjournment is discretionary,
the case law has established that an adjournment must be granted
where the failure to adjourn would result in a breach of natural
justice. Natural justice is the principle that all
parties have a right to a fair hearing. A fair hearing
is one where all parties are able to
