Haji-Mohamed v. Toronto Police Services Board, 2011 HRTO 1704

1On August 19, 2010, the applicants in Tribunal files 2010-06626-I, 2010- 06627-I, and 2010-06629 each filed an Application under s. 34 of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended (the "Code") against the Toronto Police Services Board, William Blair, Ajwaid Qureshi and RioKim Holdings. At the time that the Applications were filed, the applicants were represented by counsel, Mr. Selwyn Pieters.

2By letter dated June 1, 2011, Mr. Pieters advised the Tribunal that he had been unable to contact the applicants for instructions regarding a Request for an Order During Proceedings made by the respondent RioKim Holdings. In his letter, Mr. Pieters advised that Mr. Haji-Mohamed was incarcerated in the Toronto West Detention Centre, and that Mr. Mohammed and Mr. Hasan appeared to have moved from the addresses provided to him, and the phone numbers Mr. Pieters had for them were no longer their phone numbers. In the circumstances, Mr. Pieters withdrew as counsel for the applicants.

3On June 28, 2011, the Tribunal sent a letter to the applicants by mail advising them of Mr. Pieters' letter of June 1, 2011, and instructing the applicants to advise each other, the Tribunal and the respondents by July 12, 2011 in writing whether they intend to proceed with their respective Applications and to confirm their contact information. The applicants were informed that if they did not respond by July 12, 2011 the Tribunal might deem their respective Applications to be abandoned and close their files.

4The Tribunal's letter of June 28, 2011 was sent to Mr. Hasan and Mr. Mohammed at the addresses provided for them in their Applications, and to Mr. Haji-Mohamed at the Toronto West Detention Centre. The letter to Mr. Mohammed was returned to the Tribunal marked "empty unit". The letter to Mr. Haji-Mohamed was returned to the Tribunal as "please return to sender".

5On August 2, 2011, the Tribunal sent another letter to Mr. Haji-Mohamed by mail at the address provided for him in his Application. The letter instructed Mr. Haji-Mohamed to advise the Tribunal and the respondents in writing by August 19, 2011 whether he intended to proceed with his Application and to confirm his contact information. Mr. Haji-Mohamed was advised that if he did not respond by August 19, 2011 the Tribunal might deem his Application to be abandoned and close his file.

6To date, the Tribunal has not received any response from the applicants to the Tribunal's correspondence. Neither the Tribunal's correspondence of June 28, 2011 to Mr. Hasan, nor the Tribunal's correspondence of August 2, 2011 to Mr. Haji-Mohamed has been returned to the Tribunal.

7Rule 5.4 of the Tribunal's Rules of Procedure provides that the Tribunal may finally determine an application without further notice to any person who cannot be contacted by the Tribunal according to the contact information provided to the Tribunal by that person.

8In the circumstances, the Tribunal deems the applicants to have abandoned their Applications and the Applications are dismissed.

Dated at Toronto, this 16th day of September, 2011.

"signed by"______________

Sherry Liang

Vice-chair