Appeals

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INFORMATION FOR APPELLANTS RELATING TO APPEAL PROCEEDINGS

The following sets out a number of procedural details relating to appeal proceedings before the Tribunal. A summary of some of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Rules (the Rules) is provided; however, the exact wording of the Rules themselves is the final authority.

Submission of Briefs—Rule 34

The appellant must submit the original and nine copies of the appellant's brief to the Tribunal not later than 60 days after filing a notice of appeal. The date on which the brief is due will be provided in the Tribunal's letter acknowledging receipt of the appeal. The original and nine copies of the brief must be sent to:

The Secretary
Canadian International Trade Tribunal
Standard Life Centre
333 Laurier Avenue West
15th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G7

In addition, one copy of the brief must be sent directly to counsel for the respondent at:

Department of Justice
Civil Litigation Section
Bank of Canada Building
East Tower, 10th Floor
234 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0H8

If you reside in Quebec, or your company is registered in Quebec, one copy of the brief must be sent directly to counsel for the respondent at:

Department of Justice
Tax Litigation and Advisory Directorate
Quebec Regional Office (Ottawa)
St. Andrew's Tower
284 Wellington Street, SAT-6064
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0H8

The brief must be dated and signed by the appellant or the appellant's representative. It must also include the appellant's contact information as follows:

name

address

telephone number

fax number

e-mail address (if available)

All paragraphs and pages of the brief must be numbered, as well as all pages of attachments. The brief must include copies of any documents that support the appellant's case and must set out and include copies of the legal decisions or precedents (authorities) that support the appellant's position.

The brief itself should:

state the grounds for the appeal and the important facts relating to each ground

describe the goods in detail

indicate the points at issue between the appellant and the respondent

indicate the statutory provisions that support the appellant's case

give a short outline of the argument to be made at the hearing

indicate the nature of the decision sought from the Tribunal

The respondent, either the Minister of National Revenue under the Excise Tax Act or the President of the Canada Border Services Agency under the Customs Act or the Special Import Measures Act, both of whom are represented by counsel at the Department of Justice, must submit a response to the appellant's brief to the Tribunal within 60 days after the service of the appellant's brief. A copy of the respondent's brief will be sent directly to the appellant by counsel for the respondent.

In addition, subrule 34(3) deals with the filing of any additional materials not less than 10 days before the hearing.

Submission of Confidential Information—Rule 15

All information deemed confidential must be properly identified as such, and the Tribunal must be provided with a public version of this information. The Tribunal routinely receives requests for copies of the public briefs from interested parties, such as the general public and counsel; therefore, it is important that parties properly identify and segregate public and protected information.

In this regard, please consult the Tribunal's Guideline on the Designation, Protection, Use and Transmission of Confidential Information.

Filing, Service and Communication of Confidential Information—Rule 17

Confidential information may be served on the Tribunal only. The Tribunal will serve confidential information only on counsel who have filed a confidentiality declaration and undertaking with the Tribunal.

Postponements—Rule 26

If a party wishes to have a scheduled hearing postponed, the request for postponement must be filed in writing, with reasons, at least 10 days before the hearing. The Tribunal will seek the comments of the other parties prior to considering the request.

Expert Witnesses—Rule 22

If the appellant wishes to invite an expert witness to testify at the hearing, that is, a witness with special education and/or experience, a copy of a signed report prepared by the expert must be submitted to the Tribunal. The report must indicate the name, address, qualifications and area of expertise of the expert witness and include a detailed outline of the expert's testimony. Where parties intend to qualify a witness at the hearing as an expert witness, they are required to clearly provide, at the time of filing the Expert Witness Report, the precise area of expertise in which they wish to qualify the witness. As well, where an Expert Witness Report is filed, it is required that any authorities or materials relied upon in the preparation of the report be cited in a bibliography. Every page of the report, including attachments, must be paginated. The report must be received by the Tribunal not later than 20 days before the hearing. A copy of this report must be served on the respondent and any other parties simultaneously.

The respondent has the opportunity to obtain expert witnesses in response. The respondent is required to submit the same information to the appellant and the Tribunal within 10 days of the hearing. Similarly, if the respondent calls expert witnesses, the appellant will be served and have the opportunity to reply.

The Tribunal tries, in this way, to avoid lengthy examinations of the qualifications of experts at the hearing.

Hearing by Way of Written Submissions—Rules 25.1 and 36.1

If the appellant does not wish to appear before the Tribunal and would prefer to have the appeal heard by way of written submissions, the appellant must advise the Tribunal in writing. The respondent will be given an opportunity to reply to the appellant's request.

If the Tribunal decides to hold a hearing by way of written submissions, the appellant will have the opportunity to present submissions in writing, the respondent will have the opportunity to respond, and the appellant will be offered the opportunity to reply to the respondent's submissions before the Tribunal considers the appeal and makes its decision.

Discontinuance—Rule 44

If the appellant wishes to discontinue an appeal, the appellant must send a notice of discontinuance, or a letter stating the appellant's intentions, to the Secretary and serve a copy of the notice or letter on the other parties to the appeal, usually only the Department of Justice. A copy of the notice of discontinuance can be printed from the Tribunal's Web site at www.citt-tcce.gc.ca/forms/index_e.asp.

Hearings—Rule 23

The appellant may present a case before the Tribunal in person or be represented by legal counsel or any other representative. The Tribunal's hearings are public and conducted by a panel of members of the Tribunal.

Although the Tribunal's procedures are somewhat less formal than those of a civil court, certain formalities are followed to ensure the orderly conduct of hearings. Proceedings are recorded verbatim, and copies of the transcript may be examined at the Secretary's office or obtained from the company with which the Tribunal has contracted to transcribe the proceedings.

During the hearing, the appellant is the first to present the facts upon which a case is based, and the respondent's case is presented afterwards. The intervener's case may be presented after either the appellant's case or the respondent's case, depending on which party the intervener supports. A case is presented orally, through testimony of the parties or witnesses, or by way of evidence. In all cases where goods are involved, a sample must be provided; if this is not possible, a detailed description, photograph, videotape, brochure, etc., are acceptable if they can be authenticated by a witness. In appeals where goods are not involved (for example, audit procedures for excise tax cases), documents in support of arguments must be presented in evidence. All parties (including interveners) have the right to cross-examine witnesses and question the validity of evidence.

After all parties have placed on the record the relevant evidence that they consider essential to their case, they then present arguments in support of their respective positions.

The Tribunal's hearing schedule, list of decisions pending, orders, reasons and decisions are posted on its Web site at www.citt-tcce.gc.ca/appeals/index_e.asp.

Any questions regarding proceedings should be directed to the Registrar's office at 613-998-9908.