Pursuant to s. 11(15) of the Justices of the Peace Act, R.S.O. 1990, C. J.4 (the “Act”), the Justices of the Peace Review Council (the “Council”) will hold a formal hearing into a complaint about the conduct of Justice of the Peace James Ziegler of the Ontario Court of Justice.

The Hearing Panel will consider whether the alleged conduct, as summarized below and set out more fully in the Notice of Hearing, occurred and constituted judicial misconduct:

It is alleged that on April 19, 2024, at the Kitchener courthouse, Justice of the Peace James Ziegler engaged in inappropriate conduct toward a female judicial colleague. The allegations include that Justice of the Peace Ziegler entered the colleague’s chambers uninvited and, after closing the door, made repeated, unsolicited declarations of a sexual nature toward the colleague. The colleague repeatedly told Justice of the Peace Ziegler that his advances were unwelcome and asked him to stop. After a period of about 30 minutes, Justice of the Peace Ziegler left the colleague’s chambers.

It is further alleged that Justice of the Peace Ziegler continued to seek contact with the colleague later that same day, including returning to the colleague’s chambers and attempting further interaction, causing the colleague to fear for her safety and request a security escort when leaving the courthouse.

It is further alleged that, following the events of April 19, Justice of the Peace Ziegler attempted to contact the colleague after learning that she had reported the incident(s) to a member of the administrative judiciary. Such attempts by Justice of the Peace Ziegler to contact his colleague could reasonably be perceived as an attempt to influence or obtain information about what had been reported, to prepare a misleading explanation and/or to dissuade the colleague from telling the truth about what had occurred.

Justice of the Peace Ziegler’s alleged conduct constitutes unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards a judicial colleague, including harassment and/or sexual harassment in the workplace. The alleged conduct is contrary to the integrity of the judiciary and undermines the public’s confidence in the justice of the peace’s fitness to hold judicial office and in the administration of justice. The alleged conduct constitutes judicial misconduct that warrants a disposition under s. 11.1(10) of the Justices of the Peace Act.

Current Status

The Hearing Panel will conduct an initial appearance on August 28 at 4:30 p.m. via videoconference to set dates for the hearing and to hear preliminary motions, if any. On this date, the Notice of Hearing will be filed as the first exhibit in the hearing.

Background

The decision to order a hearing was taken following the investigation of the complaint in accordance with the Council’s complaints process. A three-person complaints committee, consisting of a judge, a justice of the peace, and a community or Law Society member, investigated the complaint and ordered that a formal hearing be held.

Pursuant to s. 11(11)(a) of the Act, the complaints committee made an interim recommendation to the Regional Senior Justice that Justice of the Peace Ziegler be unassigned from judicial duties, pending the final disposition of the complaint. The interim recommendation was accepted, and Justice of the Peace Ziegler has been unassigned from judicial duties pending the final disposition of the complaint.

Pursuant to s. 11.1(1) of the Act, the Honourable Chief Justice Sharon Nicklas, Chair of the Review Council, established a Hearing Panel consisting of Justice Riun Shandler, the Chair of the panel, Justice of the Peace Kathryn Kellough, the justice of the peace member, and Naomi Solomon, the community member.

Pursuant to s. 11.1(10), the hearing panel may dismiss the complaint, with or without a finding that it is unfounded, or if it upholds the complaint, it may decide upon any of the following dispositions singly or in combination:

• warn the justice of the peace;
• reprimand the justice of the peace;
• order the justice of the peace to apologize to the complainant or to any other person;
• order the justice of the peace to take specified measures such as receiving education or treatment, as a condition of continuing to sit as a justice of the peace;
• suspend the justice of the peace with pay, for any period; or,
• suspend the justice of the peace without pay, but with benefits, for a period up to thirty days.

The hearing panel may also make a recommendation to the Attorney General that the justice of the peace be removed from office. This disposition cannot be combined with any other disposition.

Under s. 11.2(1) of the Act, a justice of the peace may be removed from office only by order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

Presenting Counsel are Gerald Chan and Alexandra Heine, Stockwoods Barristers.

Counsel for Justice of the Peace Ziegler is Julianna Greenspan, Greenspan Partners LLP.

For general information, email: Council_Information@ontario.ca