I wrote my second human rights complaint at 4 am after very little sleep, was raging mad and didn’t look at it again until document disclosure time. Then I realized, opps! I need to amend my complaint. I don’t recommend you write your complaints at 4am. Lesson learned. Scream into a pillow and let it sit for a bit.
This is the second time I have amended my original complaint. After consulting with a lawyer at BC Human Rights Clinic, for the first human rights complaint I filed, I realized that details should be added, and so I amended my complaint to add “particulars” and not widen the scope (how big) the complaint was. It was easily accepted.
With my second human rights complaint, I was widening the scope, so it involved a formal application process, and the respondents could respond.
People are often afraid of missing something when they write their complaints, and I highly suggest you write a rough draft and make an appointment with the BC Human Rights Clinic or Disability Alliance. They are booking their appointments 2-3 weeks in advance. Well worth the wait. So if you are impulsive like me, sit on your hands and don’t push the send button quite yet until you get an appointment. But even if you do, it’s not the end; you can always apply to amend the complaint later.
If you do ever want to amend your complaint, another good-to-know is how the tribunal views self-represented people.
Many different types of vulnerable people file complaints, ranging from all sorts of situations. I think the public would be surprised to learn that many people are filing complaints and self-representing themselves against the government from prison, with no access to the internet and limited access to legal research tools.
This case isn’t an education case, but even non-education cases have jewels of information for us to learn from.
This case, by the way, is an incredibly important decision and has a lot of content on the impacts of colonialism. For parents filing complaints on behalf of their kids, this is the section that is good to know. You can use this case and quote these paragraphs in your amendment.
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[116] I acknowledge the Ministry’s argument that Ms. B gave limited information in her complaint about her Indigenous identity. Her complaint is one that could be described as arriving at the Tribunal’s gate “imperfectly brought,” as discussed by the BC Supreme Court in Lord:
“Within the human rights process, applicants are vulnerable when filing a complaint about a human rights violation which they believe has occurred. They may not know how to file their complaint in such a way that it will be heard, or in what form evidence is received, believed, or weighed by the Tribunal. Self-represented litigants … face significant barriers in bringing a claim of discrimination: para. 36.”
[117] In Lord, the Court cautioned against winnowing out complaints that are imperfectly brought, and may require more work to comprehend, but likely contain allegations of merit:para. 38. I find that caution applicable here.
[118] Ms. B filed her complaint as a self-represented party. The evidence before me points to her vulnerability as a person trying to reintegrate into society, while addressing the impacts of spending much of her life in prison, including long periods in solitary confinement. In her interview with the Criminal Records Review Program Investigator, Ms. B said: “I don’t even know how to hug after so many years in isolation”: Deroche Affidavit, Exhibit A, p. 20.
[119] She filed her complaint at a time when she was adhering to parole conditions, had little to no income, and was focused on securing employment to support herself. I take from these circumstances that Ms. B faced barriers in filing her complaint at a time when she was self-represented and especially vulnerable. She was vulnerable as a low-income parolee trying to find her footing in society after so many years in prison. As an Indigenous woman, she is a member of a group who experiences persistent patterns of inequality and discrimination. She is vulnerable in the sense that she is vulnerable to those larger forces.
[120] Within this context, Ms. B’s complaint could be said to be imperfect. She took up only three pages answering the relevant questions in the complaint form in a succinct manner……
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Just some added info: You have 5 pages to add to your complaint in addition to the form.
If you are a parent who is self-representing, it may be helpful to add some social context to your application to amend the complaint and explain why at the time of writing the complaint, it came out in the form that it did. If you weren’t able to have a lawyer review it, you can explain why not.
Social context items can be your income, protected characteristics, employment, family status responsibilities, education level, and other issues that create barriers to your ability to write a well-written complaint without access to legal support.
** When you make applications, not all decisions become public. Only certain ones that advance The Code, or are important for the public to be aware of will be posted.
Here are some cases that involve amending a complaint.
Warford v. Board of Education of School District No. 41 (Burnaby), 2024 BCHRT 322