The Wood Bull Guides

31(1) The Tribunal shall dispose of proceedings before it in accordance with any practices and procedures that are required under,

(a) this Act or a regulation made under this Act;

(b) the Statutory Powers Procedure Act, unless that Act conflicts with this Act, a regulation made under this Act or the Tribunal’s rules; or

(c) any other general or special Act.

31(2) The Tribunal shall, in respect of each proceeding before it, adopt any practices and procedures provided for in its rules or that are otherwise available to the Tribunal that in its opinion offer the best opportunity for a fair, just and expeditious resolution of the merits of the proceedings.

31(3) Despite section 32 of the Statutory Powers Procedure Act, this Act, regulations made under this Act and the Tribunal’s rules prevail over the provisions of that Act with which they conflict.

32(2) The rules may be of general or particular application.

32(3) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), the rules may,

(a) provide for and require the use of hearings or of practices and procedures that are alternatives to traditional adjudicative or adversarial procedures;

(a.1) provide for specified circumstances in which participation in mediation or other dispute resolution processes by parties to a proceeding is mandatory;

(b) provide for and require notice to be provided in a particular manner;

(c) authorize the Tribunal to hold hearings or other proceedings in writing or by any electronic or automated means;

(d) authorize the Tribunal to combine two or more proceedings or any part of them, or hear two or more proceedings at the same time;

(e) authorize the Tribunal to appoint a person from among a class of parties to a proceeding to represent the class where, in the opinion of the Tribunal, the parties have a common interest; and

(f) provide for when and how the Tribunal may hear from a person other than a party.

32(4)  Part III (Regulations) of the Legislation Act, 2006 does not apply to the rules.

32(5) Unless the Tribunal’s failure to comply with the rules or its exercise of discretion under the rules in a particular manner caused a substantial wrong that affected the final disposition of a matter, neither the failure nor the exercise of discretion is a ground for setting aside a decision of the Tribunal on an application for judicial review or an appeal.

33(1) The Tribunal may direct the parties to a proceeding before it to participate in a case management conference prior to a hearing, for the following purposes:

1. To identify additional parties to the proceeding.

2. To identify, define or narrow the issues raised by the proceeding.

3. To identify facts or evidence that may be agreed upon by the parties.

4. To provide directions for disclosure of information.

5. To discuss opportunities for resolving one or more issues in the proceeding, including the possible use of mediation or other dispute resolution processes.

6. To establish dates by which any steps in the proceeding are to be taken or begun.

7. To determine the length, schedule and location of a hearing, if any.

8. To determine the order of presentation of submissions.

9. To deal with any other matter that may assist in the fair, just and expeditious resolution of the issues. 

33(1.1) The Tribunal may direct the parties to a proceeding before it to participate in mediation or another dispute resolution process for the purpose of resolving one or more issues in the proceeding, regardless of whether or not a case management conference has been held.

33(2) At any stage of a proceeding, the Tribunal may,

(a) examine a party to the proceeding;

(a.1) examine a witness in the proceeding;

(b) examine a person who makes a written submission to the Tribunal with respect to the proceeding under section 33.2;

(c) require a party to the proceeding or a person who makes a written submission to the Tribunal with respect to the proceeding under section 33.2 to produce evidence for examination by the Tribunal;

(d) require a party to the proceeding to produce a witness for examination by the Tribunal.

33(2.1) The Tribunal may limit any examination or cross-examination of a witness,

(a) if the Tribunal is satisfied that all matter relevant to the issues in the proceeding have been fully or fairly disclosed; or

(b) in any other circumstances the Tribunal considers fair and appropriate.

33(3) The Tribunal may order that any document filed in a proceeding before it be treated as confidential and not be disclosed to the public, where the Tribunal is of the opinion that,

(a) matters involving public security may be disclosed; or

(b) the document contains information regarding intimate financial or personal matters or other matters that are of such a nature that the public interest or the interest of a person served by avoiding disclosure outweighs the desirability of adhering to the principle that documents filed in a proceeding be available to the public.

33(4)  The Tribunal may fix the costs of and incidental to any proceeding in accordance with the rules and regulations made under this Act.

33.1(1) The Tribunal shall direct the parties to an appeal under subsection 17(24), (36) or (40), 22(7), 34(11) or (19) or 51(34) of the Planning Act to participate in a case management conference prior to the hearing of the appeal, for the purposes set out under subsection 33(1) of this Act.

33.1(2) A case management conference required under subsection (1) shall include discussion of opportunities for resolving one or more issues in the appeal, including the possible use of mediation or other dispute resolution processes.

33.1(3) A case management conference need not be held if the parties to the appeal have entered into a settlement respecting all of the issues raised by the proceeding, despite any direction given under subsection (1).

33.2 Unless any general or special Act specifies otherwise, a person who is not a party to a proceeding before the Tribunal may make submissions to the Tribunal with respect to the proceeding in writing only.