The Investigative Process
The Commissioner may, at his or her own initiative or at the request of another,
investigate any matter that might be a contravention of The Elections Act
or The Elections Finances Act.
The Commissioner may refuse to conduct an investigation if he or she considers a
request to be frivolous, vexatious, made in bad faith or unnecessary in the
circumstances.
When there is an investigation it is conducted by an investigative team led by
independent legal counsel. At the conclusion of the investigation, the
investigative legal counsel makes a recommendation to the Commissioner
concerning further proceedings.
On receipt of an investigative report and recommendations, the matter is referred
to general counsel and a second independent legal recommendation from general counsel is
received.
With the benefit of the investigative report and legal advice, the Commissioner decides
either to:
- lay charges or not lay charges
- for an alleged offence of an inadvertent or technical nature, issue a formal
caution
- enter into a compliance agreement