About the HFATF

On January 12, 2007, heads of federal administrative tribunals agreed to form a new entity under the name Heads of Federal Administrative Tribunals Forum (HFATF). The HFATF is the only committee exclusively constituted of federal administrative tribunals and responds to the interest voiced by many tribunals on the need to maintain a tribunal-only forum to provide a setting for dialogue, learning and networking amongst federal tribunals. The HFATF replaces the former Tribunal Heads Group that had been set up and chaired in the past by the Department of Justice.

• Mission/Role
• Objectives
• Governance

MISSION/ROLE:

The Heads of Federal Administrative Tribunals Forum provides a venue for federal tribunal heads to:

• discuss issues of common interest
• inform of recent administrative law or governance developments
• share innovative practices, and
• take a concerted approach where appropriate.

OBJECTIVES:

The Heads of Federal Administrative Tribunals Forum will

• provides a forum for discussion of issues and developments relevant to the administrative tribunal community
• provides learning opportunities for heads of administrative tribunals, including liaison with the Canada School of Public Service and the organization of the Tribunal Members Forum
• provides a forum to share innovative practices
• provides for the setting up of working groups to deal with specific issues of interest to tribunal heads, such as training, official languages, GIC appointments, accountability, etc.
• where appropriate, uses the strength and representation of the forum to communicate, as a representative of tribunals, shared questions, concerns or issues to central agencies
• invites special speakers, such as experts in administrative law, the Auditor General, the Comptroller General, the Department of Justice, the Commissioner of Official Languages, etc. to address the heads of tribunals, and
• provides networking opportunities.
  

GOVERNANCE:

Chair

• The chair shall serve for one calendar year.
• The chair shall rotate amongst membership.

Vice-Chair

• A vice-chair shall serve for one calendar year in support of the chair and, unless circumstances dictate otherwise, will be the chair the subsequent year.
• The vice-chair is chair designate for the following year.

Membership

• Heads of the participating member organizations.

Participation at Meetings

• Attendees shall be Heads or Deputy Heads of the participating member organizations.
• Substitutes are discouraged and allowed only with the permission of the chair.

Frequency and Duration

• The chair shall be responsible for calling a minimum of two meetings per year.
• The Forum is established for an undetermined duration. Its continued existence will be re-assessed on a yearly basis.

Agenda

• The agenda will be consultative, meaning members will be consulted on possible agenda topics.
• Opportunities will be afforded in the agenda for participation of members as a roundtable.
• The final version of the agenda should be distributed two weeks before meetings and any accompanying materials should be distributed one week before the meeting.

Summary of the Meeting

• The chair will be responsible for providing a chair's summary of the meeting.
• It will be distributed in draft, with the chair accepting input into the summary from participating members.
• The final version of the chair's summary document will be the responsibility of the chair.

Language of the Meetings

• The meetings shall be conducted in either of Canada's two official languages.

Secretariat Support

• The chair shall assume responsibility for providing secretariat support including planning, logistics, and hosting the meetings of the members.
• The members shall cover their own expenses for participating in the meetings.