Last month, I gave a talk on Brexit to my colleagues at Queens’ College. In light of recent events, I think it is worth reproducing here. As a humble public lawyer I do not claim to be able to look into the hearts and minds of those who voted in the referendum on the United […] Read more

Last Friday the Supreme Court of Canada cleared the way (at last) for a national securities regulator. In Reference re Pan‑Canadian Securities Regulation, 2018 SCC 48, on appeal from a reference to the Quebec Court of Appeal by the provincial government, the Court advised that the legislative and regulatory system envisaged by the Cooperative Capital […] Read more

A hundred-odd years ago, Farwell LJ noted that the emerging concept of declaratory relief can provide “a speedy and easy access to the Courts for any of His Majesty’s subjects who have any real cause of complaint against the exercise of statutory powers by Government departments and Government officials…” (Dyson v Attorney-General (No. 1) [1911] […] Read more

Doubts are gathering about the future of Chevron deference in the United States. Before he retired from the Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Kennedy expressed some concerns about Chevron; two state supreme courts (Wisconsin and Mississippi) have materially reduced the deference they give to administrative interpretations of law; Justice Scalia, a strong defender […] Read more