N.L. Supreme Court dismisses call for judicial review of police hearing decision
CBC
A Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court justice has dismissed an application requesting a review of a decision that cleared a former police officer of discreditable conduct.
The ruling effectively ends a long battle by a Labrador man for police accountability.
In his decision Dec. 23, Justice David Conway said his role was to determine whether or not a previous decision by Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Complaints Commission (RNCCC) chief adjudicator John Whelan was reasonable.
“In this case I find the merits decision is transparent, intelligible and justified," Conway said.
"That is, I find the merits decision reasonable.”
Whelan found former RNC Const. Joe Smyth's BlackBerry message to now-retired Sgt. Tim Buckle — in which he called a detained man a "loser" — was inapprorpiate, but did not amount to discreditable conduct.
"To be clear — the respondent’s commentary towards the complainant was not appropriate. The respondent admits as much," Whelan wrote in his Jan. 16, 2025 decision.
"However, I cannot conclude that the comments were significant enough to cause a credible risk to the reputation of the RNC."
The lawyer for the complaints commission made an application to Supreme Court five months later, seeking a judicial review of that decision.
RNCPCC lawyer James Strickland argued that Whelan used the wrong legal framework and made contradictory findings in deciding the officer's actions were not "conduct unbecoming."
The decision by Conway closes the door on a protracted, complicated battle by Andrew Abbass to see accountability for two former officers he believes breached their duty.
"It's a mess of a process. I wouldn't recommend it to anybody. And yeah, I definitely think it needs to be amended," Abbass said in an interview with CBC News this week.
"As an exercise in standing on principle, it's been a frustrating, frustratingly long process."
Abbass filed a complaint with the commission, which hears public complaints about RNC officers, in 2017.
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