The applicant, a police officer facing disciplinary charges, sought judicial review of the hearing officer's refusal to recuse himself.
The applicant argued there was a reasonable apprehension of personal bias because the hearing officer had a close working relationship with a key prosecution witness and had permitted the applicant to be cross-examined about his pending charges while testifying in an unrelated disciplinary matter.
The Divisional Court granted the application, finding that the hearing officer's actions in the unrelated matter compromised his ability to fairly assess the applicant's credibility and effectively deprived the applicant of his statutory right to silence under the Police Services Act.
The hearing officer's decision was quashed and the matter remitted for the appointment of a new hearing officer.
