The High Court of Australia has for several years now struggled with the concept of materiality in the law of judicial review (see my piece from 2019). The judges have at times been squarely at odds about the meaning and scope of the concept. In LPDT v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural […] Read more

The theme for next year’s Administrative Law & Governance Colloquium is “Justifying Judicial Review”: Western constitutional democracies live in turbulent times, buffeted by populism, technological development, globalization and other challenges. Some see the courts as bastions of principle capable of helping countries to navigate contemporary storms. But others view judges as unelected philosopher kings who […] Read more

In this post I highlight two recent appellate decisions on evergreen topics for economic regulators: meetings with regulated entities and the right to counsel (or the absence thereof) in regulatory investigations. Meetings with Regulators Teksavvy Solutions Inc. v. Bell Canada, 2024 FCA 121 concerned an appeal from a rate-setting decision by the CRTC relating to […] Read more

Updated September 13 to account for a recent Canadian decision on the same theme Much governance in the contemporary administrative state is carried on by way of or reference to policies or guidelines. Three recent cases from England, Ireland and Canada address interesting aspects relating to the promulgation of policies or guidelines. Publicity is the […] Read more

Two recent decisions on virtual hearings are worth noting. First, in his capacity as an arbitrator, James T Casey recently addressed the issue in Northern Lakes Regional College v. Faculty Association of Northern Lakes Regional College, 2024 CanLII 42577. After canvassing the arbitral jurisprudence, Mr Casey proposes a useful analytical framework:    Preference of the […] Read more

The virtual hearings debate continues! Karen Andrews from the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario has also got in touch, with comments from a personal perspective on online hearings. These neatly supplement the contribution from Lesli Bisgould and Daniel McCabe and I am posting them with Karen’s permission (her views, not ACTO’s): A guilty pleasure for […] Read more

My post on virtual hearings (about which I was perhaps unduly sanguine) prompted an email from Lesli Bisgould and Daniel McCabe. Their perspective is very different to mine, probably because we come at the issue from different backgrounds. Any opinions or views expressed herein are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect […] Read more

The advantages and disadvantages of virtual hearings have been discussed by courts and tribunals in Canada since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As mobility and in-person gatherings were restricted during the pandemic, courts and tribunals held many hearings virtually. In brief, virtual hearings have advantages in terms of access to justice, efficiency and transparency; […] Read more

I am very glad that I did not have to decide the tricky administrative law issues presented by York Region District School Board v. Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, 2024 SCC 22. This is an important decision about the application of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to public school boards and standard of review […] Read more

I am pleased to be participating in a webinar organized by the University of Essex next week. Joe Tomlinson and I will be presenting our edited collection on methodology in public law whilst Dimitrios Kyritsis and Stuart Lakin will be presenting theirs on constitutional theory. Here is the event description: In the field of public […] Read more