Commentary on developments in administrative law, particularly judicial review of administrative action by common law courts.
Appropriately enough for Halloween (perhaps!), here is my ‘year in review‘ paper for this year: This paper traces how Canadian courts in 2025 continued to consolidate and refine the post-Vavilov landscape. The year’s jurisprudence reflects a mature administrative law—anchored in justification, consistency, and institutional restraint—rather than one in doctrinal flux. At the Supreme Court, Pepa […] Read more
In a previous post, I discussed a recent decision of the Federal Court of Appeal about the ground covered by an appeal on a question of law or jurisdiction, on the one hand, and an application for judicial review, on the other hand. Now the Federal Court of Appeal has returned to the issue, this […] Read more
Our “Vavilov at 5″ conference, held only in June, has gone through the Alberta Law Review publication process in what feels like record time. Kudos most of all to the editors-in-chief Lauren Stavert and Eli Ziff, who took this on at the tail end of their mandate, and to the contributors who produced drafts and responded […] Read more
I spoke to a journalist from the Canadian Press today about Universal Ostrich Farms and the ostriches that are destined to be culled subsequent to a H5N1 outbreak (albeit one that doesn’t seem to have affected any surviving members of the herd). Readers will recall my post on the legal issues in the case. The […] Read more
In recognition of the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, I am reproducing a short extract from a piece written this year for a conference in honour of Russell Brown, in which I try assess where Justice Brown stood in relation to the administrative state: All told, I would place Justice Brown on the substance […] Read more
On rare occasions, an administrative decision-maker will conduct a hearing in such a way as to give rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias, that is that the decision-maker had prejudged the outcome before the conclusion of the hearing. Environmental Appeal Board v. District Director, Metro Vancouver, 2025 BCCA 303. The Court of Appeal (Edelmann […] Read more
Readers will forgive a slightly more personal post. This morning, I learned of the sudden death of Professor Conor Gearty KC. Amongst a very great many other things, Conor was my first cousin, once removed. We first met — after many family mentions of this brilliant but slightly mysterious figure who blazed a trail in […] Read more
Last year, in Auer the Supreme Court of Canada applied the reasonableness standard to judicial review of regulations, settling a vibrant academic debate and appellate split in favour of the Vavilov framework. Two important recent appellate decisions underscore that Vavilov is the general framework for judicial review of administrative action: Universal Ostrich Farms Inc. v. Canada (Food Inspection […] Read more
Readers will know that one of the unresolved questions still lingering post-Vavilov is the standard of review applicable to appeals of arbitration awards (see Part III here and also here). This is a subtly difficult question. Prior to Vavilov, the Supreme Court of Canada had held that the judicial review framework applies to arbitration appeals: Sattva Capital […] Read more
The website and call for papers for the 2026 Public Law Conference, in Cape Town, is now online. The theme is the future of constitutional democracy and there is a non-exhaustive list of illustrative topics: The future of constitutional democracy and the rule of law / the separation of powers The legislature, electoral systems, democratic […] Read more