Skilled troubles are mounting for a London lawyer who tried to sue a choose after dropping a case marked by “incomprehensible authorized gibberish” and after being discovered by a courtroom to have made racist and misogynist feedback to opponents and others.
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Skilled troubles are mounting for a London lawyer who tried to sue a choose after dropping a case marked by “incomprehensible authorized gibberish” and after being discovered by a courtroom to have made racist and misogynist feedback to opponents and others.
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The Regulation Society of Ontario’s tribunal suspended Oussama Hamza indefinitely Wednesday for allegedly refusing to adjust to society requests for paperwork associated to investigations of his actions.
He much more critical allegations about these actions, in keeping with a discover filed final month on the tribunal, together with making racist and sexist remarks on social media and courtroom paperwork and “hostile, inflammatory faces, inaccurate and discriminatory written statements in courtroom paperwork and in associated correspondence, and on his agency’s web site.”
In the meantime, Hamza’s current protection of a girl who was discovered by a courtroom to have used a faux identify to attempt to sue the CBC is also inflicting consternation in authorized circles.
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Hamza couldn’t be reached for feedback Wednesday. Calls to his workplace cellphone prompted a voice message directing individuals to his web site, earlier than saying goodbye and hanging up.
The web site was not working Wednesday. On the house web page was a discover asking individuals to signal a “petition towards” to enter the web site. The discover didn’t say what the petition was opposing and the hyperlink to the remainder of the web site didn’t work.
Hamza started incomes public notoriety in fall 2020, when lawyer Vincent Rocheleau posted LinkedIn messages encouraging ladies to participate in a College of Ottawa undertaking about their experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic.
In response to courtroom rulings, Hamza replied on LinkedIn with messages about ladies’s contributions to academia, together with that “ladies did not write their historical past as a result of they did not care to take action” and “ladies simply do not care about historical past or philosophy” as a result of “ladies do not usually contemplate being a thinker or historian ‘attractive.’ ”
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Hamza defended himself with feedback about his critics, together with that Rocheleau and one other individual “had been colonizing and genociding the nation,” and that white ladies had been “elevating murderers of Indians and blacks they now faux to assist towards ‘villains’ like” him , in keeping with courtroom paperwork.
Rocheleau filed a grievance with the Regulation Society of Ontario that Hamza’s feedback had been racist and sexist.
One other Hamza submit led to a different grievance to the legislation society. The submit confirmed a photograph of legislation scholar Ismail Aderonmu, his spouse and youngsters, with speech and thought bubbles making derogatory feedback about every, in keeping with a courtroom choice.
Aderonmu’s grievance alleged posting such content material is “conduct unbecoming of a lawyer.”
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The legislation society launched an investigation, however Hamza allegedly refused to co-operate, as an alternative going to courtroom in search of at the very least $215,000 in damages.
Hamza additionally sought a number of orders, together with that:
- He not be required to discuss with any choose sooner or later as Your Honor or Justice.
- He “shall not pay taxes to a European colonizer, however to a ‘purple Indian’ consultant in authorities.”
- He not pays charges to the legislation society, “which shall be declared racist.”
- Aderonmu not be admitted to the bar.
In April 2021, Superior Court docket Justice Thomas Heeney threw out the matter on a technicality, however made it clear all the case was with out advantage.
The authorized discover and factum filed by Hamza “quantity to over 1,000 pages of rambling, pseudo-intellectual assaults on the (legislation society) and the opposite respondents, expressions of his opinion on their character and integrity, racist and misogynist assaults on the respondents and the judiciary, arguments that quantity to little greater than incomprehensible authorized gibberish,” Heeney wrote.
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Hamza’s calls for about taxes and judges “can pretty be described as nonsense,” Heeney added. “They’re untenable at legislation and haven’t any likelihood of success.”
Heeney later ordered Hamza to pay prices of $33,000 to the legislation society and $12,742.86 to Aderonmu.
Hamza then sued, in French, the identical individuals plus Heeney. Superior Court docket Justice Robin Tremblay threw out that motion as “frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of the courtroom” in a choice printed Jan. 17, 2022.
Hamza additionally took his case to the Ontario Court docket of Attraction. It upheld Heeney’s choice, dismissed the enchantment, and located Hamza’s authorized arguments “proceed to make racist and misogynistic statements and embrace private assaults on the respondents, . . . the movement choose and the respondents’ authorized counsel. We’re glad that the enchantment is frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of the method of the courtroom.”
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The legislation society started investigating Hamza sooner or later, and a tribunal listening to discover in March alleged Hamza has contravened Regulation Society Act skilled conduct guidelines since Dec. 1, 2021, by failing to co-operate in a probe of his actions by refusing to totally reply to legislation society emails and letters.
After a listening to Tuesday, the tribunal dominated Hamza’s license can be suspended the subsequent day till he responded to the correspondence. After that, he would stay suspended for an additional month.
No listening to date has been set for the investigation of his actions. However the discover for the listening to outlines seven allegations about ongoing actions that started in 2020.
The allegations embrace that Hamza:
- Made “discriminatory, racist, sexist or offensive feedback on social media, on his agency’s web site, in courtroom paperwork and in associated correspondence, which had been directed at members of the general public, the legislation society, complainants to the legislation society, members of the judiciary , different licensees and the Canadian justice system.”
- Tried to impede a legislation society investigation by threatening to take authorized motion and “breached his obligation to behave with integrity, particularly his obligation to apply legislation and discharge all of his duties to his shoppers, courts, the general public and different members of the career , by making hostile, inflammatory, inaccurate and discriminatory written statements in courtroom paperwork and in associated correspondence, and on his agency’s web site.”
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Regardless of the sooner troubles, Hamza continued to apply legislation till this week, and that introduced him to a weird case involving the CBC over a March 2021 investigative piece by reporter Jennifer Chevalier into suspicions a psychological well being charity was run by a girl with a secret identification .
An individual named Kamala Tiwari sued CBC for $20 million in damages. The broadcaster introduced a movement to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming Tiwari is a faux identify and the precise plaintiff was Althea Reyes.
Reyes, who has been declared a vexatious litigant underneath Sec. 140 of Ontario’s Courts of Justice Act, can’t begin a authorized motion with out a courtroom’s permission. A vexatious litigant is somebody deemed to have introduced ahead a number of, frivolous claims to the courts.
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At a March 17 Zoom listening to, in keeping with the courtroom choice, Superior Court docket Justice Heather Williams requested Hamza if his consumer was on the display. Hamza didn’t reply, saying the choose ought to ask the opposite events in courtroom as a result of they claimed to know who his consumer was. The choose then requested a girl on the display if she was the plaintiff. Hamza interrupted and once more advised the choose to ask the opposite events, though the girl then indicated she was Kamala Tiwari.
Williams dismissed the go well with in a choice printed in Could, saying it was possible Reyes began the authorized motion underneath the identify Tiwari.
“Lastly, I need to add that Mr. Hamza’s participation on this matter was of concern to me, given his standing as an officer of the courtroom,” Williams added.
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