Appeal to Umpire

II. Principles of Law

(j) Jurisdiction of Umpire to Hear and Determine Charter Issues

An Umpire does have jurisdiction to find provisions of the Act and Regulations to be inconsistent with the Charter.

Tetreault-Gadoury v. C.E.I.C., [1991] 2 S.C.R. 22 (S.C.C.) File no. 21222, A-760-86
Nishri v. Canada, December 9, 1997, F.C.J. No. 1846 (F.C.A.) A-216-96

In cases of this nature, the possible remedy in favour of a claimant would be a determination by the Umpire that the Board relied on an unconstitutional law in upholding a refusal of benefits by the Commission. The Umpire then has the power to render the decision the Board of Referees should have made to be consistent with constitutional law.

Nishri v. Canada, December 9, 1997, F.C.J. No. 1846 (F.C.A.) A-216-96

Where a claimant or other party involved in an appeal before an Umpire wishes to rely upon the Charter to attack the constitutional validity of a section or sections of the legislation, that party is required to provide notice to the Attorney General of Canada and the Attorney Generals of the Provinces, at least ten (10) days prior to a hearing before the Umpire.

Section 57 Federal Court Act
Attorney Generals Mailing List

Notice of a constitutional question under section 57 of the Federal Court Act is to be in Form 69 set out in the Appendix of the Federal Court Rules.

Rule 69 Federal Court Rules
Form 69 Appendix to Federal Court Rules

[  previous  |  table of contents  |  next  ]