Does an oral hearing need to be held in order to meet the standard of procedural fairness?

The respondent cites Miller v. Director General Posting and Career Officers et al.1, as authority for the proposition that an oral hearing is not required for the standards of procedural fairness to be met in the release process. Here, the applicant was given an oral hearing by his Commanding Officer, and was, at that time, aware of the circumstances upon which his release was recommended. It is urged that the release decision was made properly, in keeping with the principle of fairness. With respect, in my view, the issue in the case at bar is not whether the applicant had an opportunity to make representations. He was clearly able to do so. Rather, the issue is whether the requirements of procedural fairness can be said to be met where these representations are made after a de facto decision has been made. It is my opinion that procedural fairness is lacking in these circumstances. If procedural fairness requires an opportunity for submissions to be made and to be considered, as is the case in these circumstances, that standard is not met where the evidence supports the conclusion that the decision was made before the opportunity was given for submissions to be made.