Law360 Canada ( January 20, 2021, 6:22 AM EST) -- Appeal by the Junior Hockey League from an order prohibiting it from continuing any proceedings or taking any further actions against the respondents in respect of a 2015 incident. The respondents were a hockey team, its coach and owners. In the 2015 incident, a fight broke out on the ice involving the respondent team. Its coach was accused of assaulting the assistant coach and a player of the other team. The appellant issued numerous penalties and suspensions to members of both teams and suspended the respondent coach indefinitely. An appeal to Hockey Canada resulted in his suspension being reduced to three years. Shortly after Hockey Canada’s decision, the appellant society initiated proceedings under its bylaws to suspend or expel the respondent team from the league due to the conduct of its coach. The respondents sought relief under the Societies Act, alleging the proceedings were conducted in a manner that was oppressive, unfairly prejudicial and contrary to the principles of natural justice. The chambers judge found the requirements of sufficiency of notice and the right to be tried by an unbiased tribunal were seriously breached warranting orders to cease the current and any future proceedings relating to the 2015 incident. The chambers judge found it was unclear how the other owner of the team or the team itself were implicated in the proceedings. The judge also found that the appellant’s president was a biased decision maker who should not have participated in a preliminary meeting of the Governors or rendered two important preliminary decisions, matters that were not cured by the hearing before the Governors. The appellant argued that the chambers judge did not consider and apply the legal consequence of the partnership relationship of the respondents as owners of the team....