High Court Says Fine Imposed on SFXCU was Illegal  

According to attorney Marshalleck, of the ten issues that were put forward in the application for judicial review, the claimants were only successful in having quashed a fine of two thousand dollars that was levied against the credit union.  The High Court ruled that the decision by the Registrar of Credit Unions to fine SFXCU was ultra vires and illegal.

 

Andrew Marshalleck, S.C., Attorney-at-law

“In this type of case, an administrator [that] the registrar had seen certain activity and he decided that he would impose an administrative penalty and the ruling in that case, he had imposed a two thousand [dollar] penalty for the failure to provide proof that certain steps he had ordered to be taken, be taken by a particular time.  They held that that imposition of that administrative penalty was outside the scope of the act, so the requirements of the section which allows for the imposition of administrative penalties were not satisfied in that instance. Well like any other decision of the High Court it’s subject to appeal.  As to whether they will or not, that’s for them, that’s their right to pursue it if they wish.  But there were some, by my count, ten issues that were decided and one was decided in their favor, nine went against and I had listed to you the first four.  I can quickly give you the others.  The court also held that there was no breach of natural justice because the fact of consultation and because the appointment of the board, officers and managers of the credit union was automatically suspended when the administrator was appointed.  It’s not that an independent decision was made to relieve the board and these officers of their duties.  That was an automatic consequence of the appointment of their administrator and there had been consultation as required by the act the week before the appointment of the administrator was made.”