HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

Osmand Bangura

Applicant

-and-

Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario as represented by the Minister of Community and Social Services

Respondents

INTERIM DECISION

Adjudicator: Judith Keene

Date: August 8, 2012

Citation: 2012 HRTO 1541

Indexed as: Bangura v. Ontario (Community and Social Services)

1The respondent filed a Request for an Order During Proceedings on August 8, 2012. The request is that the hearing, scheduled for August 15-17, 2012, be adjourned, that the date for production of documents be extended, and other responded to an applicant be allowed to agree to a deadline for an exchange of outstanding production in advance of the next scheduled hearing dates. In its Response to the Request, the applicant agrees with the respondent's position and requests the same orders.

2In an Interim Decision dated July 26, 2012, (2012 HRTO 1459), the respondent was ordered to disclose certain materials to the applicant by August 9, 2012. In its Request, the respondent indicates that it has identified some 38,000 pages of documents and that it “has not been able to do a full accounting of all the material that it will be producing”. The respondent states that it has arranged for 3100 pages of materials to be copied and is informed that these documents will be ready by August 10, 2012 at the latest. The respondent states that it is “currently in the process of collecting the remaining documents and will need to review them before arranging to have them copied”. Both the applicant and the respondent indicate that they will be unable to properly prepare their respective cases in advance of the scheduled hearing dates.

3The parties indicate that they have discussed the current status of the litigation and the disclosure and that they are both firmly committed to ensuring that the litigation proceeds in a timely and efficient manner.

4In the circumstances, I agree that it is appropriate to cancel the scheduled hearing dates. However, the Tribunal also has a responsibility to ensure efficiency and expedition in dealing with Applications; I am not willing to leave the timing entirely up to the parties. I see no reason why Rules 16 and 17 should not be applied to further disclosure of documents and witness statements or amendments to witness statements.

ORDER

5The hearing dates in this Application are cancelled and the hearing adjourned to a date to be fixed by the Registrar.

6The August 9, 2012 deadline for production set out in the July 26, 2012 Interim Decision is extended to September 4, 2012.

7On or before September 4, 2012, the parties must provide the Registrar with six dates on which they could be available for three days of hearing (which will be confined to the issue of liability under the Code as per the Case Assessment Direction of August 7, 2012).

8In respect of any material not already filed, disclosure and filing obligations shall be governed by Rules 16 and 17 of the Tribunal's Rules of Procedure.