Commissions of Inquiry

Part I An introduction to Commissions of Inquiry
 Chapter 1 An overview of public inquiries 
 1. What is a Commission of Inquiry?
 2. What does a public inquiry do?
 3. The flexibility of inquiries
 4. Inquisitorial vs. adversarial
 5. Alternatives to public inquiries: Considerations for governments
 6. The legal framework
 7. A note on nomenclature
 
 Chapter 2 Two types of inquiry
 1. Introduction
 2. Why the type of inquiry matters
 3. The legal status of the fact-finding/policy distinction
 4. The hybrid mandate: combining fact-finding and policy
 
 Chapter 3 The history and evolution of Commissions of Inquiry
 1. Origins: Royal Commissions and Parliamentary committees in Britain
 2. Inquiries Acts
 3. The legal and policy impact of past inquiries
 4. An endangered species?
 
 Part II The law of public inquiries
 Chapter 4 Commissions of Inquiry and the Canadian constitution
 1. The division of powers
 2. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
 3. The separation of powers
 
 Chapter 5 Judicial review
 1. Introduction
 2. Jurisdiction to grant remedies against Commissions of Inquiry
 3. Grounds for judicial review
 4. The standard of review
 5. Procedure and remedies
 
 Chapter 6 Inquiries Acts and Terms of Reference
 1. Overview
 2. Typical elements in the Terms of Reference
 3. Interpreting the Terms of Reference
 
 Chapter 7 Commission rules and orders
 1. The Rules of Practice and Procedure
 2. Orders
 
 Part III Getting to work
 Chapter 8 The life cycle of a Commission of Inquiry
 1. The discretion to initiate an inquiry
 2. Crafting the Terms of Reference
 3. Amending the Terms of Reference
 4. Wrapping up a Commission of Inquiry 
 5. Implementing inquiry recommendations
 
 Chapter 9 The Commissioner(s)
 1. Choosing the Commissioner(s)
 2. Judges as commissioners of inquiry
 
 Chapter 10 Assembling the rest of the inquiry team
 1. Staffing and budget
 2. The unique role of Commission counsel
 
 Part IV Participants and witnesses at a public inquiry
 Chapter 11 Participating in an inquiry
 1. Participants and standing
 2. Different categories of standing
 3. Counsel for inquiry participants and witnesses
 
 Chapter 12 Protecting individual rights and reputations
 1. Parallel proceedings
 2. Providing notice to persons potentially affected by findings of misconduct
 3. Consequences of a notice of potential adverse findings
 
 Part V Answering the questions in the Terms of Reference 
 Chapter 13 Evidence and information: The legal framework
 1. Introduction
 2. The power to compel evidence
 3. Enforcement powers and contempt orders
 4. Admissibility of evidence
 5. Privilege
 6. Conclusion 
 
 Chapter 14 Research and Commissions of Inquiry
 1. Introduction
 2. The research team
 3. The research process
 
 Chapter 15 Gathering information inside the hearings
 1. Public versus private hearings
 2. Rules and procedures at inquiry hearings
 
 Chapter 16 Gathering information outside the hearings
 1. Document handling and disclosure
 2. Witness interviews
 3. Innovative approaches to inquiry evidence
 4. Search powers
 
 Chapter 17 Writing the final report
 1. Introduction
 2. Planning for the final report
 3. Guiding principles for inquiry reports
 4. The standard of proof for investigative findings of fact
 5. Drafting the final report
 6. Crafting recommendations
 7. Publishing the final report
 
 Chapter 18 Afterword
 
 Appendices
 Appendix 1 Canadian Inquiries Acts
 Appendix 2 Samples terms of reference
 Appendix 3 Sample inquiry rules of procedure
 Appendix 4 Sample rulings and orders
 Appendix 5 Selected inquiry narratives
 Appendix 6 The “Salmon principles”