Social Justice Tribunals of Ontario

There are many tribunals in Ontario, each of which is specialized in a specific area of law. The enabling statutes of tribunals often include a privative clause, which states that certain statutorily-based decisions of the tribunal are final and conclusive, and therefore not subject to judicial review.

Out of all the tribunals in Ontario, seven of them are Social Justice Tribunals of Ontario (SJTO): The Landlord and Tenant Board, The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, The Child and Family Services Review Board, The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, The Social Benefits Tribunal, The Custody Review Board, and The Ontario Special Education Tribunals. Each of these tribunals have jurisdiction to hear matters on their prescribed area of law and to make legally binding decisions through their adjudicators.

A notable difference between tribunal proceedings and court proceedings is that tribunal proceedings have different rules and features than courts of law. For example, you don’t have to stand up when you are speaking, and the commencement of a trial in a tribunal does not follow the formal ordered procedural steps of a court proceeding.

Another difference between tribunals and courts is that in courts, judges are not prepared and specialized for the categories of law of all cases that come before them, whereas in tribunals, the adjudicators have specialized training and knowledge of the Acts and types of disputes applicable to the enabling statute and focus of their tribunal. For example, an adjudicator of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario will have thorough knowledge of the different parts and sections of The Ontario Human Rights Code and will be experienced with the handling of various kinds of disputes that arise in regard to perceived human rights violations. This mastery of Ontario statutes provides the benefit to plaintiffs and defendants of faster dispute resolution. Tribunal proceedings are usually less expensive than court proceedings as well, and although privative clauses are a blockading factor in attaining judicial review, the case can still be re-heard or appealed if there is a breach of natural justice. Moreover, decisions of a tribunal that do not fall under the breadth of their privative clause are appealable to Divisional Court.