NOTICE OF AMENDMENT OF TRIBUNAL RULES

Please be advised that the Tribunal’s Interim Rules have been amended.  The new rules may be referred to as the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal Rules of Procedure (03-05-04) and they will govern all cases referred to the Tribunal under the Canadian Human Rights Act after April 30, 2004.

The new rules are substantially similar to the previous version; however certain changes have been made to respond to feedback from counsel and to implement policy initiatives of the Acting Chairperson.

 

In particular it will be noted that, in the new rules:

 

-Rule 6(1) emphasizes that a party must disclose documents in its possession that relate to the other parties’ cases, and not just those documents that relate to its own case; 

 

 

 

-Rule 6 no longer suggests a time frame for the filing of an expert’s report.  The time for doing so will be entirely determined by the Panel, as will the time for filing an expert report in response;

 

 

-Parties are specifically reminded in Rule 6(5) that their obligation to disclose is ongoing;

 

-Rule 8 sets out a procedure allowing the addition of a party, by its own motion, or on the motion of another party;

 

 

 

 

 

-Rule 9 prescribes a default interest rate on awards of compensation equal to the Bank Rate established by the Bank of Canada.

 

In addition, attempts have been made to generally streamline and standardize the language used in the rules, and also to eliminate superfluous or redundant provisions.

 

 

Please address any questions or concerns in respect of the new rules to:

 

Greg Miller

Counsel, CHRT

160 Elgin Street

11^th floor, Suite 11A-100

Ottawa, ON   K1A 1J4

gmiller@chrt-tcdp.gc.ca

tel. (613) 995-1707

fax (613) 995-3484

 

April 26, 2004