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Complaints - Fairness. Carrique v. Leach
In Carrique v. Leach (Ont Div Ct, 2025) the Ontario Divisional Court allowed a JR, this brought by the Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police against an IPRD decision against "the direction of the Complaints Director of the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency (“LECA”) ... to impose a penalty or agree to a penalty in respect of a finding, made pursuant to section 71 of the Police Services Act, R.S.O 1990, c.P.15 (“the PSA”), ... [officers] ... had committed discreditable conduct in violation of section 2(1)(a)(xi) of the Code of Conduct, .... in its investigation of a police officer’s complaint that she had been sexually assaulted by another police officer".
Here the court considers the degree of procedural fairness to be accorded to a complainant, here in a police complaint context:[61] The IPRD’s conclusion that the Responding Officers had committed discreditable conduct in their investigation does not reflect the deference to be afforded to choices made in good faith during a police investigation. In Boua v. Office of the Independent Police Review Director, 2024 ONSC 2172, 173 O.R. (3d) 165, at para. 16, the Divisional Court stated:Complainants are entitled to a comparatively low level of procedural fairness with respect to investigations because they are not facing a concrete impact to their rights and interests. It is the police officers who are at risk of findings of misconduct and the resulting consequences. Additionally, significant deference is owed to the procedure chosen by the TPS in its investigation. The law does not require a perfect investigation and courts are reluctant to interfere in an administrative decision-maker's investigative process unless there is bad faith or patent unfairness. [Citations omitted]
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