Tribunal Watch Ontario: Justice Denied ? The Access-to-Justice Crisis at Tribunals Ontario
TORONTO , Dec. 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tribunal Watch Ontario says there is an access-to-justice crisis at some of Ontario's most important adjudicative tribunals, including the Landlord and Tenant Board and Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, which are part of the Tribunals Ontario cluster. People who must rely on these adjudicative tribunals to resolve legal disputes are experiencing unprecedented delays, and discovering that justice delayed is indeed justice denied.
Tribunal Watch Ontario is calling on the Ontario Government and Tribunals Ontario to take immediate action to provide access to justice for the tens of thousands of individuals whose lives are affected by these important tribunals. See our Statement of Concern at https://tribunalwatch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Dec-14-2022-Statement-PDF.pdf. See also today's Toronto Star column by Martin Regg Cohn, at https://www.thestar.com/politics/political-opinion/2022/12/14/doug-ford-appointed-unqualified-party-loyalists-to-fill-key-tribunal-spots-now-ontarians-are-paying-the-price-as-wait-lists-swell.html.
The latest Annual Report for Tribunals Ontario documents a collective backlog of 67,000 cases at its four largest tribunals. Of particular concern are the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB), where the delay in getting to a hearing has ballooned from seven weeks to seven months in the last four years, and the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO), where the number of final decisions after a hearing has fallen from an average of 110 a year to just 16 decisions in 2021/22.
According to Professor Emeritus David Mullan, an internationally-recognized administrative law expert: "Over the last four years, the expertise and independence of several key Ontario tribunals have been damaged, leading to threats to the quality and timeliness of justice." Commenting on Ontario's human rights process, Raj Anand, human rights lawyer and former Chief Commissioner at the Ontario Human Rights Commission, comments: "There are now massive delays at every stage of the process, with parties waiting years for their cases to move forward, and for final decisions."
Our adjudicative tribunals deal with important disputes that would otherwise go to the courts. Ontario needs adjudicative tribunals that are independent, expert and able to provide fair and timely dispute resolution. Please refer to our Statement of Concern, for more information on the crisis and our recommendations on how to move forward: https://tribunalwatch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Dec-14-2022-Statement-PDF.pdf.
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Tribunal Watch Ontario is a public interest organization with a mission to monitor Ontario's tribunal system, advocate for independence, and promote access to justice.
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