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OTEBOOK ON ETHICS, STANDARDS OF PRACTICE AND LEGAL ISSUES FOR COUNSELLORS AND


PSYCHOTHERAPISTS


Can a Regulator Compel a Professional Registrant to Complete Continuing Professional Development Requirements? An Answer from the Supreme Court of Canada


By Glenn Sheppard 8


For this Notebook, I decided to review a recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada because it has significant implications for the regulatory bodies in Canada that now regulate, with statutory legislative authority, the professional practices of registered counsellors and psychotherapists. It is particularly relevant to what regulators can do to protect the public interest through quality assurance policies to ensure the continuing and improved competence of their members. One quality assurance practice typical of self-governing professional bodies is to expect registrants to complete a number of continuing professional development requirements. It was this type of provision that was at issue in this court case Green v. Law Society of Manitoba, 2017 SCC 20.


The Issues in this Case:


Prior to 2012, the Law Society of Manitoba took a voluntary approach to the continuing professional development (CPD) activities of its members. However, a study in 2007 revealed that many lawyers reported no CPD activities or only minimal engagement. So, in 2012 the benchers made their CPD requirement mandatory requiring all practicing lawyers to complete 12 hours of CPD per year, the equivalent of one hour per month. This change was stated in the following Rules of the Law Society:


VOL. 50 NO. 2 | SPRING 2018


2-81.1(8) Commencing January 1, 2012, and subject to subsection (10), a practising lawyer must complete one hour of eligible activities for each month or part of a month in a calendar year during which the lawyer maintained active practising status…


2-81.1(12) Where a practising lawyer fails to comply with subsection (8), the chief executive officer may send a letter to the lawyer advising that he or she must comply with the requirements within 60 days from the date the letter is sent. A member who fails to comply within 60 days is automatically suspended from practising law until such time as the requirements have been met and a reinstatement fee paid.


Mr. Green, the appellant in this case, was a practising lawyer for more than 60 years. There had been no disciplinary action against him and he had been a bencher of the Law Society and had helped to deliver some CPD activities. Despite the mandatory CPD rules of the Law Society, Mr. Green had not reported any CPD credits for 2012 or 2013. Consequently, in 2014, he was sent a letter by the Society in which he was informed that his failure to comply with the CPD Rules within 60 days would result in his suspension from practising law. He was also provided with an opportunity to request an extension of the 60 days, if needed to


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