Belair v. Canada
(Solicitor General)

[2000] F.C.J. No.199 (F.C.T.D.), 2000 CanLII 14967 (F.C.)

    The applicant B was charged with two disciplinary offences within the meaning of section 40 of the CCRA and had asked that the disciplinary court proceedings go forward in French before a Francophone or bilingual chairperson without the assistance of an interpreter, as required by section 16 of the Official Languages Act. That request was denied and B was convicted of a disciplinary offence by a unilingual anglophone chairperson aided by an interpreter. B applied to the Federal Court for judicial review asking the Court to quash the tribunal's decision on the ground that he was entitled to the hearing he sought under section 16.
    Pellettier J. dismissed the application. Section 3 of the Official Languages Act states that a federal court is any "body that carries out adjudicative functions and is established by or pursuant an Act of Parliament." While it could not be disputed that the inmate disciplinary tribunal was created pursuant to a federal statute, the only question was whether this tribunal "carries out adjudicative functions," which is the phrase that appears in the English version of the Official Languages Act. Pelletier J. asserted that if this were the first time that the question had arisen, the Court would consider that the disciplinary tribunal carried out adjudicative functions because of the consequences which the decision of the tribunal entails for inmates, such as a fine, restrictive conditions and so on. However, the Supreme Court and the Federal Court of Appeal have held that this type of tribunal is an administrative tribunal and so is not a tribunal that carries out adjudicative functions - reference being made to Martineau v. Matsqui Institution Disciplinary Board, [1978] 1 S.C.R. 118 (Martineau No.1), [1980] 1 S.C.R. 602 (Martineau No.2) and Hanna v. Mission Establishment, [1995] F.C.J. No. 1370 (F.C.A.). The Official Languages Act states that the right claimed by the applicant inmate is only available before certain tribunals, which puts in question the classification of the tribunal. Accordingly, a disciplinary tribunal is not a tribunal that carries out adjudicative functions within the Official Languages Act.
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