DAY 1: Wednesday, May 5, 2010
8:00 Registration Opens; Coffee Served
9:00 Announcements and Opening Remarks
Co-Chair:
Brian Gover
Partner
Stockwoods LLP
9:10 A Review of the Top Cases and Hot-Button Issues of the Year
Brian Gover
Partner
Stockwoods LLP
- What approach are courts taking to reviewing decisions of hearing officers/adjudicators in the police context?
- Can chiefs of police or commissioners seek judicial review of their own delegates’ decisions?
- Top precedents in police discipline
- Trends in disciplining unsatisfactory performance as opposed to misconduct
- Is disability a valid defence in disciplinary matters, and if so when?
- Charter violations: should they always trigger disciplinary proceedings?
- Indemnification of officers facing criminal charges such as assault, the facts of which arose while on duty
- The appropriate role of in-house counsel to policing bodies
- What amounts to discreditable conduct?
- Psychological abuse as a ground for complaint
- Multiplicity of fora in the review of police conduct
- unpacking the layers of potential liability
- experiences with human rights tribunals
10:15 Networking Refreshment Break
10:30 Living with the Aftermath of the McNeil Case
Moderator:
Joseph Markson
Markson, McDonald
Panelists:
Harry Black, Q.C.
Harry G. Black Q.C. Professional Corporation
Bonnie Bokenfohr
Director, Legal Services and Risk Management Branch
Edmonton Police Service
Joseph Callaghan
Deputy Crown Attorney
Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General
Owen Wigderson
Barrister & Solicitor
- How are police forces interpreting their obligations?
- What needs to be disclosed?
- An update on post-McNeil litigation and judicial consideration
- Can police officers with troubling disciplinary histories remain in positions that may lead to court testimony?
- How is McNeil affecting the prosecution and defence of criminal cases?
- Will criminal defence attorneys who also defend police in criminal or administrative proceedings perceive a conflict of interest in aggressively pursuing disciplinary records?
11:45 Use of Force: Where does the Law Stand Today?
Chris Lawrence
Technical Advisor
Force Science Institute, Minnesota State University
Joanne Mulcahy
Harry G. Black QC Professional Corporation
- When will use of force lead to disciplinary action or worse?
- what is allowed and what isn’t?
- Tasers and the Braidwood Inquiry
- Debunking some popular misconceptions about the use of force
- insight into the evolving science
- the National Use of Force Framework
- less-lethal weapons
- Recent case law
12:45 Networking Luncheon for Speakers and Delegates
2:00 Civil Liability of Police Forces to Members of the Public
Julian Falconer
Partner
Falconer Charney LLP
Eugene Mazzuca
Partner
Blaney McMurtry LLP
- Did Hill v. Hamilton open any floodgates in terms of actions for negligent investigation?
- meeting the standards in litigation
- case law update
- Personal injury and wrongful death actions
- care of persons in custody
- Liability for off-duty conduct
- Liability for procedural breaches in the course of investigations
- Recent case law on malicious prosecution in relation to police
- Dealing with the increasing complexity of litigation
- Risk management tips for police forces
3:15 Networking Refreshment Break
3:30 Understanding the Emerging Risk to Police Forces of Civil Liability to Employees
Julian Falconer
Partner
Falconer Charney LLP
Brendan Van Niejenhuis
Stockwoods LLP
- Important recent decisions that create police exceptions to the Weber line of cases
- implications for police associations
- Risk management for police forces
- Vicarious liability for human rights violations
4:30 Co-Chair’s Remarks
4:45 Conference Adjourns
DAY 2: Thursday, May 6, 2010
8:30 Coffee Served
9:00 Announcements
Co-Chair:
Julian Falconer
Partner
Falconer Charney LLP
9:05 Ontario’s Office of the Independent Police Review Director: the First Six Months
Susanne Burkhardt
Director of Development & Community Engagement
Scadding Court Community Centre
Gerry McNeilly
Independent Police Review Director
- What are the initial statistics on complaints?
- How has the new scheme changed the complaint investigation process?
- the new activist role of the OIPRD
- how is it working in practice?
- Meeting the timelines set out in the PSA
- What new infrastructure is being set up around Ontario, and what is the cost?
- does the office have adequate resources to meet the caseload?
- public education about the changes
- Working with the new regs
- Developments in B.C., Manitoba and Nova Scotia: how will their approach differ and how will it be the same?
- What hasn’t changed under the new regime?
- How is it working from the point of view of complainants and police?
10:30 Networking Refreshment Break
10:45 Conducting Police Internal Investigations
Moderator:
Margaret E. Beare, PhD
Chair of Sociology
York University
Panelists:
Tony Corrie
Staff Supt., Central Field Command
Toronto Police Service
Mike Hamel
Former Inspector, Internal Affairs
Toronto Police Service
- Receiving complaints
- Classifying complaints
- Who should investigate?
- Best practices
- Interviewing under the PSA or comparable statutes
- Dealing fairly with a systemically high proportion of unfounded complaints
- Issues regarding statements
- voluntariness
- compellability
- can you subpoena witnesses and records?
- can you protect the identity of witnesses?
- privacy, privilege and confidential information
- At what point does a complaint become a criminal investigation?
- does the investigation change at that point, and if so how?
- disclosure issues where there is a potential for criminal charges
- When should an external investigation manager be brought in?
- the UK experience
- choosing the manager
- Recent case law
12:00 Networking Luncheon for Speakers & Delegates
1:15 Improving the Adjudicative Process
Moderator:
George Cowley
Director of Legal Services (ret’d)
Toronto Police Service
Panelists:
Superintendent Jean Michel Blais
Director, Appropriate Officer Representative Directorate
RCMP
Peter Brauti
Partner
Brauti Thorning Zibarras LLP
Lynda A. Bordeleau
Partner
Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall LLP, Ottawa
- Can the process be made more efficient?
- use of case management methods and pre-hearing conferences
- joint submissions on penalty
- meeting time limits
- Ensuring procedural fairness
- will we see the introduction of procedural rules where they currently do not exist?
- selection of adjudicators: is there structural bias where one party selects the adjudicator?
- avoiding conflicts of interest
- How does police discipline law differ from employment law?
- Is ADR becoming more prevalent?
- How do panels across the country strive for comparable penalties for comparable offences?
- What are adjudicators looking for from counsel?
- The jurisdiction of the hearing officer
- can he or she order disclosure, particulars etc?
- The courts’ approaches to reviewing decisions of police hearing officers/adjudicators
- Is there ever an argument for in camera hearings?
- Recent case law
2:30 Networking Refreshment Break
2:45 Current Issues at Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU)
Joseph Markson
Markson MacDonald
Ian Scott
Director
Special Investigations Unit
- How are stakeholders responding to changes implemented in the wake of the Ontario Ombudsman’s report?
- The right to counsel in SIU investigations
- An update on judicial guidance on the rules governing police officers during SIU investigations
- Should police counsel be involved in preparing or editing officers’ notes?
- Will Manitoba and other provinces follow the Ontario model?
- Will the Braidwood Inquiry lead to changes in the B.C. model?
- The Ontario Ombudsman’s office’s follow-up investigation of the SIU’s progress in implementing previous recommendations
3:45 Co-Chair’s Closing Remarks
4:00 Conference Concludes
Conference Details
