For the second time in less than three months, an Ontario discipline body
has recommended that a justice of the peace be removed from office.
The case is that of Welland JP Richard Bisson, who admitted to judicial
misconduct at a hearing last year before a panel of the Justices of the
Peace Review Council, the independent body tasked with investigating and
disciplining JPs.
The Justices of the Peace Review Council is recommending Welland JP Richard
Bisson be removed from office for judicial misconduct on Sept. 9, 2015. (Dreamstime)
Among other things, Bisson admitted to failing to explain the court process
to a self-repesented litigant before finding him guilty, without hearing
submissions from either side and without giving reasons; failing to conduct
what are called “plea inquiries” to ensure that litigants pleading guilty
fully understood what they were doing; failing to hear submissions from
defendants before imposing fines; as well as being rude and discourteous in
court, including making comments to a female paralegal “that appeared to
demonstrate sexual innuendo.”
All of this happened on a single day: Sept. 9, 2015.
On Tuesday, the discipline panel — made up of a provincial court judge,
justice of the peace and community member — recommended that Ontario’s newly
installed attorney general, Caroline Mulroney, fire Bisson.
“In the panel’s view, His Worship Bisson is unwilling or unable to change
his ways. His Worship has not upheld the standard of conduct expected of a
judicial officer necessary to uphold public confidence in him, the
judiciary, and the justice system,” the panel said in its decision.
“To preserve and restore confidence in the judiciary in general, there is
no alternative other than to recommend to the attorney general that His
Worship Bisson be removed from office.”
A spokesperson for Mulroney said she is reviewing the discipline panel's
recommendation.
Justices of the peace, who earn $132,000 a year, are appointed by the
provincial government. They preside over bail hearings, authorize search
warrants and conduct trials in provincial offences court, which deals with
non-criminal matters, among other duties.
Bisson was appointed in 1993. His lawyer, who had argued that Bisson be
suspended and ordered to apologize, did not return the Star’s request for
comment.