The UK government has established a variety of schemes with the goal of returning welfare recipients to the workforce. Some require claimants to work in return for benefits. R. (Reilly) v. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, [2013] UKSC 68 addresses the legality of two of these “workfare” schemes. Of particular interest, given the […] Read more

I am finalizing the proofs of my article (with Angela Cameron) on Charter Values and Substantive Equality (downloadable here). Some extracts might be of particular interest to readers of this blog. Here is the first of them, the section entitled “Judicial Review and Administrative Decision-making”. We traverse two linked avenues of inquiry in this paper. […] Read more

One category of questions reserved to Canadian courts, rather than administrative decision-makers, is questions of general law of central importance to the legal system. The underlying idea is that there are some questions to which a uniform answer should be given, in the interests of the administration of justice.There is little guidance on what this […] Read more

There is another interesting Federal Court case which followed hot on the heels of the Slansky case I posted about here:  Douglas v. Canadian Judicial Council. The theme is similar: what sort of material can a decision-maker be compelled to produce? The underlying inquiry is into the Associate Chief Justice of the Manitoba Court of […] Read more

I have posted already on the controversy surrounding the nomination of Nadon J.A., a judge of the Federal Court of Appeal, to the Supreme Court of Canada. The question is whether he meets the criteria imposed by ss. 5 and 6 of the Supreme Court Act. Some have been dismissive of the case mounted by […] Read more

There are two important Canadian doctrines which affect the structure of administrative tribunals: impartiality and independence. Impartiality arises where a well-informed observer would have a reasonable apprehension of bias in a substantial number of cases. Independence, meanwhile, concerns the insulation of tribunal members from outside influence, something to be judged by reference to security of […] Read more

Mr. Justice Nadon, a member of the Federal Court of Appeal, was named — and indeed has been sworn in — as a judge of the Supreme Court of Canada. But a challenge has been launched to his appointment. And until the challenge is resolved, Justice Nadon will not sit as a member of the […] Read more

In Toronto on Thursday, October 24, I am speaking with Justice Stratas of the Federal Court of Appeal on developments in administrative law. We will be poking at the entrails of recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions and trying to discern what the future holds. Discussion will be informal and frank. I am very much […] Read more

I spent yesterday afternoon at an excellent conference in Ottawa on the Copyright Pentalogy. I was among the contributors from the collection on the pentalogy edited by Michael Geist who gave presentations. I was also the only non-copyright lawyer who spoke. Regular readers will not be surprised that I urged deference from the courts to […] Read more