Practice Manual Chapter 9

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9.00 PUBLICATION OF TRIBUNAL DECISIONS

9.10 General

Tribunal decisions include a cover page setting out the names of participants and representatives. This information is not found in the body of the decision. The Tribunal endeavours to exclude any information from the body of a decision which could identify the participants. Decisions, without identifying features, are available through the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Labour website. The database is developed and maintained by the Nova Scotia Environment and Labour Library. Anyone wishing to use the database should contact the Environment and Labour Library at 424-8474.

9.20 Personal Identifiers in Decisions

Generally, decisions are written without personal identifiers for participants, except on the cover page. The names of participants, lay witnesses and others (where the use of names would tend to identify the participants), are not used in Tribunal decisions. Witnesses may be identified by their role, for example, the "worker" or the "employer", or by initials.

Expert witnesses may be referred to by name. However, if an appeal commissioner considers that the use of an expert's name might identify the participant, the expert witness may be referred to by title, for example, the worker's attending physician, or by initials.

The names of representatives will generally not be used in the body of a decision. Instead, they may be referred to by their role, such as the worker's representative. Board claim file numbers or employer registration numbers are not included in the body of a decision.

Quotations contained within Tribunal decisions are edited to protect privacy. This will normally be accomplished by substituting a descriptive term for a name, and using square brackets to show the change, e.g., [the Worker].