Quebec judge could face dismissal for refusing to hear case in January 2015
MONTREAL — A judicial inquiry committee is recommending a Quebec judge be dismissed for refusing to hear a spat between neighbours and for suggesting too strongly they negotiate a settlement in a small-claims matter.
The five-member committee concluded the proposed sanction against Quebec court Judge Peter Bradley is severe but deserved, given he was the subject of a similar complaint a few years earlier for which he received a reprimand.
The recommendation to remove a provincially appointed judge from the bench is exceedingly rare — the council says it has had only seven such recommendations since 1978.
At the heart of the matter is a legal fight between neighbours over $472.45 worth of damage to a fence, a case Bradley presided over and ultimately refused to hear in January 2015.