This is an extract from my recent paper on the law of bias (available here): There is a problem with the common law of bias as applied to administrative decision-makers. Comprised of a set of heavily context-sensitive principles, it is difficult to predict the application of the law of bias in advance. The Privy Council […] Read more

This morning, the Leaders’ Debates Commission (a body created by an Order in Council to organize leadership debates in advance of federal elections) rescinded its invitation to the Green Party to participate in two debates, this evening and tomorrow. The decision is available here. The reason is that the Green Party initially provided a list […] Read more

I have posted a new paper on SSRN, entitled “On Time and Space: Proximity in the Law of Bias“. I’ll be posting select extracts over the next while. Here is the abstract: In this piece I address the common law of bias in administrative law and offer a proposal designed to enhance analytical clarity: Lawyers […] Read more

In its decision in Auer v. Auer, 2024 SCC 36, the Supreme Court of Canada set out a framework for judicial review of regulations. Put very simply, the reasonableness standard developed in Vavilov applies just as much to regulations (and other forms of administrative action that are general in nature) as it does to individualized decisions. […] Read more

I am very pleased to say that “Candour in Judicial Review Proceedings in Canada” will appear in the Canadian Bar Review later this year (or early next year). I have posted a preprint to SSRN: To date, Canada knows no ‘duty of candour’ in judicial review proceedings. Such a duty, requiring individuals and government alike to […] Read more

Blogging has been slow recently but I expect to regain a head of steam in the next few weeks. There are a few issues bubbling away under the surface. One relates to the thorny question of the standard of review of administrative decisions that allegedly infringe upon the Charter. As we know, an administrative decision […] Read more

Just a reminder that the last two presentations in this year’s Administrative Law & Governance Colloquium will take place this week and next. On Wednesday, March 19 at 4pm, Professor Rosalind Dixon will be discussing her book Responsive Judicial Review: Democratic dysfunction can arise in both ‘at risk’ and well-functioning constitutional systems. It can threaten […] Read more

With a new Prime Minister set to take office on Monday morning once the Liberal Party of Canada has determined who should succeed Justin Trudeau as its leader, it is quite possible that a general election will be called early next week or that Parliament will be recalled forthwith. Accordingly, the lawfulness of the Trudeau […] Read more

The Canadian debate about the relationship between statutory rights of appeal and applications for judicial review continues to rumble on. In Best Buy Canada Ltd. v. Canada (Border Services Agency), 2025 FCA 45, Stratas JA for a unanimous Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal and judicial review application that “adopts the submissions made in the […] Read more

It is early in 2025 but already we have a contender for the most significant public law decision of the year. In Kebaowek First Nation v. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, 2025 FC 319, Blackhawk J held that, in principle, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (incorporated into domestic law by the United […] Read more