Commentary on developments in administrative law, particularly judicial review of administrative action by common law courts.
In this post, I want to mark the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation by highlighting two recent Alberta Court of Appeal decisions on reconciliation and regulation. Both treat reconciliation as an integral part of the regulatory enterprise. Consider first Fort McKay First Nation v Prosper Petroleum Ltd, 2020 ABCA 163. Here, the Alberta Energy […] Read more
This is an extract from my paper “A Defence of Administrative Law Doctrine“ It is necessary at the outset to define what I mean by “doctrine”. What I have in mind is an account which provides a “systemic conception” of a particular area of law, setting out the relevant principles, rules and standards in a […] Read more
For previous posts in this series, prepared for today’s University of Toronto symposium on Justice Abella, see here, here and here In the scholarly literature on deference, one finds pro-deference arguments based on legislative intent,[1] relative institutional competence,[2] democratic legitimacy[3] and much else besides.[4] These arguments tend to be developed from the perspective of the […] Read more
This is the latest in a series of posts on Justice Abella’s administrative law jurisprudence (see also here and here). What I find distinctive is her commitment to administrative autonomy, which I describe in this post. Tune in tomorrow to hear more! Justice Abella’s jurisprudence was, however, not all about protecting administrative decision-makers. On another […] Read more
I am speaking tomorrow (virtually) at a symposium at the University of Toronto celebrating Justice Abella’s career. My topic is the “Autonomy of Administration”, which I introduced in a previous post. Here is the first of two posts on Justice Abella’s promotion of administrative autonomy, to be followed tomorrow by a critical analysis of her […] Read more
I was honoured to contribute to a recent symposium on the work of Professor TRS Allan. I have posted my paper “A Defence of Administrative Law Doctrine” to SSRN: Doctrine fits uneasily in Professor TRS Allan’s theory of law: on the one hand, for Professor Allan, “law” is the outcome of a process of all-things-considered […] Read more
The pertinence of international law for Canadian administrative decision-makers was an issue in Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada v. Entertainment Software Association, 2022 SCC 30. The Supreme Court’s decision brings some clarity to the legal framework in this area, but could have been clearer on one point, about latent ambiguity, and […] Read more
The short answer is, “yes”, subject to complying with the duty of procedural fairness and providing a reasoned justification for doing so. After Mr Poilievre’s election as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada at the weekend, the online publication Central Banking asked me and several others whether he could follow through on his commitment […] Read more
Since its decision in Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65, [2019] 4 SCR 653 in December 2019 (and a couple of companion decisions released the same month), the Supreme Court of Canada has done nothing in respect of the standard of review of administrative action. And, it must be said, […] Read more
This is the last in my series of posts on the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Law Society of Saskatchewan v. Abrametz, 2022 SCC 29 (see also here, here, here and here). Before discussing the available remedies for administrative delay in the wake of Abrametz, it is appropriate to note the dissenting reasons of […] Read more