Justice of the peace committed judicial misconduct

A hearing panel has found a Hamilton justice of the peace engaged in judicial misconduct.

Paul Welsh was brought before the Justices of the Peace Review Council after an error was made in a criminal court in October 2013 that led to a man’s wrongful arrest.

Welsh was accused of “unilaterally changing the return date on a court matter without taking steps to notify the accused, counsel of record, or the Crown of the new return date,” according to the notice of hearing.

Without anyone knowing of the changed court date, the accused — identified in court documents as Ian Silverthorne — failed to show, and a bench warrant was issued. He was later arrested and charged with failing to appear in court.

Evidence was introduced to the hearing panel last week that included “a number of letters from judges of the Ontario court of Justice, from justices of the peace, from the Superior Court of Justice and there were lawyers both in defence practice and from the Crown attorney’s office,” Welsh’s lawyer Eugene Bhattacharya said Monday in an interview.

“He (Welsh) was grateful for the support he was shown by the legal community,” he said.

“These types of proceedings are designed to improve the way the administration of justice works ... even though it is not necessarily a result that my client is happy or proud of, it is a situation where others might learn and avoid these problems in the future.”

Bhattacharya submitted at the hearing that an apology, training on independence and integrity, and a suspension with pay for a period between 14 and 30 days would be appropriate. He also called for Welsh to be compensated for his legal costs. The presenting counsel argued an apology, education on how to manage a busy courtroom and a suspension without pay would be appropriate.

The hearing panel will announce its decision Feb. 15 at 10 a.m. in Toronto.