In two recent cases appellate courts have addressed the application of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by adjudicative tribunals, the Alberta Court of Appeal in Webber Academy Foundation v Alberta (Human Rights Commission), 2023 ABCA 194 and Lauzon v. Ontario (Justices of the Peace Review Council), 2023 ONCA 425 (where I was counsel […] Read more

See my introductory note here and previous posts here (on Article 34.1) and here (on Article 37.1). See also Tom Hickey’s note on Zalewski, available open-access from the Modern Law Review, Now, the reader may be wondering what, if any, practical consequences this decision carries. The interpretive discussion of Articles 34.1 and 37.1 is all […] Read more

See my introductory note here and previous post (on Article 34.1) here. Article 37.1 was designed as a ‘saver’ clause to ensure that administrative decision-makers could exercise some powers and functions of a judicial nature. The historical background is covered in McKechnie J’s dissenting opinion (at paras. 25-30). I think the history is ambiguous (a […] Read more

See my introductory note here. The settled approach to Article 34.1 was set out in McDonald v. Bord na gCon [1965] I.R. 217, where Kenny J elaborated a set of criteria for determining whether a body is administering justice. (i.)               a dispute or controversy as to the existence of legal rights or a violation of […] Read more

There is likely to be an increase in Irish legal content on the blog in the next while as I am preparing a new edition of Administrative Law in Ireland. In a series of posts I am going to discuss the important decision in Zalewski. The decision of the Irish Supreme Court in Zalewski v […] Read more

This is my contribution to a Balkinization symposium on Chevron deference from a comparative perspective. You can find links to all the posts in the symposium here. The opening post by Oren Tamir and Susan Rose-Ackerman is particularly helpful. I am a committed comparativist — in my 2021 monograph on judicial review of administrative action, […] Read more

In the original ATCO case in 2006, the Supreme Court of Canada addressed the issue of the scope of a regulator’s statutory authority, making a distinction between express and implied powers. As I have written, this distinction makes little sense and it would be better simply to focus on legislative intent, discerned by consideration of […] Read more

All of a sudden there is intense interest in Canada in the consequences of rights of appeal for the availability of judicial review.  The basic issue, to be considered next month by the Supreme Court of Canada in Yatar (and at umpteen roundtables and seminars until that case is decided), is whether legislation creating a […] Read more

As we have done almost every year since 2013, Justice Stratas and I will be doing a joint online event next week for the Ontario Bar Association casting a look over the current state of affairs in Canadian administrative law: Our most popular Administrative Law Section event is back again this year to bring you […] Read more

To mark the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, I thought I might highlight Grammond J’s fascinating decision in Bastien v. Jackson, 2022 FC 591, which prompts questions about the relationship between the principles of administrative law and the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples. B and J were councillors of the Piikani Nation. B brought a […] Read more