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Mandate | Appeal Tribunal Members | How to Apply for an Appeal | Appeal Costs
Mandate
The Appeal Tribunal is an administrative tribunal whose function is to hear, in a fair and impartial fashion, appeals of orders, directions or decisions made by the regulated Marketing Boards or Commissions as outlined in the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act (MAPA) and the Review and Appeal Regulation.
In making a decision, the Appeal Tribunal may do the following:
- Confirm or rescind the order, direction or decision of the Marketing Board/Commission; or
- Rescind the order, direction or decision of the Marketing Board/Commission and refer the matter back to the Marketing Board/Commission that conducted the review for a re-hearing with recommendations that the Appeal Tribunal considers appropriate, if any.
The Appeal Tribunal is neither a court of law nor an arbitrator. The Appeal Tribunal does not substitute its own decision for that of the Marketing Board/Commission.
Appeal Tribunal Members
The Minister of Agriculture and Forestry may appoint up to five members to the Appeal Tribunal. The term of an appointment to the Appeal Tribunal is three years. A person who has been appointed to the Appeal Tribunal for two consecutive terms is not eligible to be appointed to the Appeal Tribunal until one year has passed since the previous term expired. Members are chosen for their knowledge of Alberta’s agricultural industry. In particular, members should be knowledgeable of the role and legislative responsibilities of agricultural Marketing Boards and Commissions. Members should have strong communication and analytical skills, and have the ability to chair meetings.
How to Apply for an Appeal
In accordance with section 36 of the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act or MAPA, any person affected by a decision of a Marketing Board or Commission may apply to the decision maker to review its decision within 60 days from the day the person is notified of the decision or served with the decision, whichever is sooner. Subsequently, a review decision made by a Marketing Board or Commission may be appealed to an Appeal Tribunal within 60 days from the day the party requesting the review was served with the review decision.
An application for an appeal must be made in writing and must:
- Identify the review decision that is being appealed;
- state why the review decision should be rescinded;
- state the outcome requested;
- state whether the applicant is requesting an oral appeal hearing, or if the applicant consents to complete the appeal hearing solely on the basis of written submissions;
- provide the appellant’s name, mailing address and telephone number and, if available, the appellant’s email address;
- if the appellant has an agent to act on the appellant’s behalf in respect of the review, provide the agent’s name, a telephone number at which the agent may be contacted during regular business hours and, if available, the agent’s email address;
- provide a mailing address and, if available, an email address for delivery of notices in respect of the appeal; and, be signed by the appellant or the appellant’s agent.
The application should be submitted by registered mail to:
Alberta Agricultural Products Marketing Council
Attn: Appeal Tribunal
J.G. O’Donoghue Building, 7000 - 113 Street
Edmonton, Alberta T6H 5T6
Appeal Process
When an application for an appeal is received, the Appeal Tribunal must determine if the request is valid, having met the conditions outlined in section 36 of MAPA and the Review and Appeal Regulation. Under section 14 of the Review and Appeal Regulation, the Appeal Tribunal may refuse to hear an appeal if it considers the appeal to be trivial or not made in good faith. In this case, the Appeal Tribunal shall provide written notice to the applicant of the refusal within 30 days of receiving the application for the appeal.
If the Appeal Tribunal has agreed to hear the appeal, and if an oral appeal hearing is required, the panel must conduct the appeal hearing within 120 days of the date when the application for appeal was received by the Appeal Tribunal. If the parties have consented to complete the appeal solely on the basis of written submissions, the written submissions must be received by the panel within 30 days of the date when the panel received the application for appeal and consent, and the appeal hearing must be held within 90 days of the date when the written submissions were received by the appeal tribunal. In either case, the panel must provide a written decision, with reasons, within 30 days of the completion of the appeal hearing to both parties, to Marketing Council, and to the Minister. The Minister may publish the appeal decision at his or her discretion.
Appeal Costs
The cost for the first day of the hearing will be shared as follows:
- 30% by Marketing Council
- 35% by the Marketing Board or Commission
- 35% by the applicant
Full costs of hearing for every day past the first day are split 50:50 between the Marketing Board/Commission and the applicant.
The Minister may, on the request of a party, waive payment, in whole or in part, of the costs recovered in accordance with section 24(3) of the Review and Appeal Regulation.
For more information regarding the Appeal Tribunal or the appeal process, please see the Review and Appeal Regulation or contact Susan Johnstone. |
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