The Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia, Self-Governing Professions 2014
The issue of access to tribunal documents during a hearing engages the constitutional principle of "open courts" and the freedom of the press protected by section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Without open courts and media access to court proceedings and to the key underlying case documents, freedom of the press would be significantly curtailed and the public's right to a transparent justice system would be negatively affected.
We all know that administrative tribunals and regulatory bodies have, over time, become a very significant component of our system of justice and self-governing professional bodies have played an important role in this area. Accordingly, the issue of access to tribunal documents during a hearing has important implications for the transparency and legitimacy of our system of justice in Canada.
At the same time, self-governing professional bodies and other tribunals deal with matters involving sensitive personal information and the privacy rights of individuals engaging with tribunals therefore must also be given due consideration.
This paper considers the competing rights involved and discusses how a delicate balance can be achieved.
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This paper was prepared by Tamara Hunter – associate counsel of Davis LLP and head of the firm's Privacy Law Compliance Group – and delivered on April 4, 2014 as part of the Continuing Legal Education Society of BC's Self-Governing Professions program.
The author wishes to acknowledge the invaluable research assistance of Deanna Brummitt, Associate, and Todd Shikaze, Articled Student, of Davis LLP, in preparing this paper.
