Law society opens up disciplinary hearings
'The courts have told us that it should be open'
Last Updated: Monday, November 30, 2009 | 11:15 AM AT
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The New Brunswick Law Society will start opening disciplinary hearings for the province's lawyers to the public.
Marc Richard, the law society's executive director, said the public will be able to attend hearings or search online for any disciplinary actions starting Tuesday.
"Throughout the years, the courts have told us that it should be open, that the hearing should not be closed, so the media and the public would be able to see what's going on at the disciplinary hearings," Richard said.
Until now a lawyer accused of questionable behaviour would have the matter dealt with at a closed hearing. There would be a public representative on the disciplinary panel but the public wouldn't know who was being sanctioned or why.
The New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench gave the law society one year to open up its hearings in September 2008 after the closed-door hearings were challenged.
The meetings will now be open to the public. As well, the law society will post notice of hearings on its website, along with the allegations against a lawyer. The decisions of disciplinary committees will also be posted on the website as well as being included in the national public-domain database CanLII.
But Richard said some information may be kept private.
"The decisions that will be rendered by the discipline committee will only use initials, with respect to the clients and the witnesses," Richard said.
"But as far as the lawyer's concerned, their name shows up throughout the process."
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