Confidentiality and Public Information at the Justices of the Peace Review Council

Confidential Process:

The Justices of the PeaceActestablishes a process for addressing complaints about the conduct of justices of the peace. A committee of the Review Council, called a complaints committee, examines every complaint that falls within its jurisdiction and, where appropriate, conducts an investigation into the allegations arising from the complaint. The review and investigation stage isgenerally private and confidential,The purpose of a private and confidential complaints process is to balance the need to hold justices of the peace accountable for their conduct and the need to protect judicial independence.Constitutional guarantees of judicial independence include security of tenure and the freedom to speak and deliver judgment free from external pressures and influences of any kind. A system of accountability for judicial conduct must provide for accountability while guarding against the risk of infringing the constitutional guarantees that apply to the justice of the peace who is the subject of a complaint.

Other reasons why confidentiality is important at the pre-hearing stages of a judicial complaint include:

1. The disclosure of unsubstantiated or frivolous complaints may undermine the authority of justices of the peacein carrying out their judicial functions.

1. Without the capacity to ensure some form of confidentiality, the ability of the Review Council to obtain full and frank disclosure at the investigation stage may be compromised, making the process less effective.

1. The justice of the peace who is the subject of the complaint may have legitimate privacy concerns.

After considering a complaint, tThe complaints committee may impose a number of dispositions, including ordering a formal hearing into the complaint.

Once a justice of the peace receives notice that a formal hearing has been ordered, the complaint becomes public, subject to any order made by a hearing panel. At this point, the risk of harm to the judicial independence of the individual justice of the peace who is the subject of the complaint is outweighed by the need to preserve or restore public confidence in the judiciary in general. For this reason, once a complaints committee has determined that a hearing is warranted, the hearing is presumptively public and the “open courts” principle applies, unless there are exceptional circumstances that require all or part of the hearing to be held in private.The Review Council posts information about public hearings on its website and in a local newspaper.

Order Review Council’s Order of Confidentiality:

The Council has made an Order to protect the confidential complaints process. The Order states:

Pursuant to section 8(18) of the Justices of the Peace Act, the Review Council has ordered that, subject to an order made by a complaints committee or a hearing panel, any information or documents relating to a meeting, investigation or hearing that was not held in public are confidential and shall not be disclosed or made public.

The Order of confidentiality of information and documents applies whether the information or documents are in the possession of the Council, a complaints committee, a hearing panel, the Attorney General or any other person. Documents reviewed by a complaints committee, including complaint letters and information gathered during the course of an investigation, are presumed to be confidential and may not be disclosed or made public at any stage of the complaint process unless the document is filed in evidence at a public hearing. Where such documents are filed in evidence at a public hearing, a hearing panel may make an order that certain information or documents remain confidential or are subject to a publication ban.

Annual Public Reporting About Complaintss:

Each year, the Review Council publishes an annual report [link to annual reports page]. The annual report includes information on all complaints received or dealt with during the year. The annual reportprovides a summary of each complaint, the Council’s findings, and the outcome or disposition of the complaint. The report does not include any information that mightidentify the justice of the peace who was the subject of the complaint, the complainant, or a witness, unless the complaint was the subject of a public hearing.