Commentary on developments in administrative law, particularly judicial review of administrative action by common law courts.
This is a guest post by Dr. Alyn James Johnson on the Supreme Court of Canada’s recent decision in Toronto (City) v. Ontario (Attorney General), 2021 SCC 34. In Toronto (City) v Ontario (Attorney General) (2021 SCC 34) [“City of Toronto”], the Supreme Court of Canada attempts to put a leash on the use of […] Read more
There was some expectation that the Supreme Court of Canada would revisit the appellate standard of review in Northern Regional Health Authority v. Horrocks, 2021 SCC 42, a case about the competing jurisdictions of a labour arbitrator and human rights adjudicator. In both the leave materials and on the merits, the case was presented as […] Read more
This is the latest post in the series on the Kerr report, cross-posted from the Australian Public Law blog. In this post I provide an overview, from a barrister’s perspective, of the approach I am likely to take when asked for advice regarding a potential judicial review application in relation to a Commonwealth administrative decision. […] Read more
Thanks to the miracles of modern technology, I have spent the last 18 months travelling around Canada and the world from the comfort of my home in Ottawa. And I will be ‘travelling’ some more soon. For the launch of Understanding Administrative Law in the Common Law World (Oxford University Press, 2021), the Centre for […] Read more
I am happy to say that Understanding Administrative Law in the Common Law World (Oxford University Press, 2021) is now available for purchase from (as they say) all good book stores. To whet the appetite, I have made the first chapter available for free on SSRN: This book has three goals: to enhance understanding of […] Read more
You may have noticed in recent weeks that service on the blog has been interrupted. Believe it or not, the OpenUM platform, which hosts dozens of law blogs (including mine), was the subject of a cyberattack. The attackers succeeded in dismantling the platform and the two backups of the material hosted on the platform. They […] Read more
Registration is open for the 2022 Administrative Law & Governance Colloquium, “Artificial Administration: Automation, Digitization and Artificial Intelligence in Public Administration“: In the era of Big Data, governments and public entities are turning more and more to automation, digitization and machine learning to operate more effectively and efficiently. The extent of technological change in and […] Read more
For many years, Dr Ron Ellis has been Canada’s leading expert on and advocate for administrative tribunal independence, which (outside Quebec) is the poor relation of the common law of procedural fairness. Dr Ellis has now drafted model legislation on tribunal independence. As he describes it: The Model Act is intended to be the mainstay of […] Read more
In Canada, it has historically been very difficult to shed light on the decision-making processes of the highest levels of government. Cabinet decision-making is protected by conventions of confidentiality, public-interest immunity and, at the federal level, the regime under the Canada Evidence Act. Even when constitutional principles, such as judicial independence, are in play, disclosure of cabinet-level […] Read more
Policies, guidelines, operational manuals and soft law instruments are pervasive in contemporary public administration. But when can an applicant challenge a soft law instrument as unlawful on the basis of illegality, irrationality or procedural unfairness? The UK Supreme Court considered this issue in detail in two recent decisions, setting out the principles in R (A) v […] Read more