A tragic accident occurred in Seaworld, Orlando in 2010. A trainer interacting with Tilikum, a killer whale, was dragged underwater and killed. An investigation by the Occupational Health and Safety Authority ensued. Seaworld was found to have violated the duty to provide a safe workplace and lost its challenge to the order made pursuant to […] Read more

I previously mentioned Unjust by Design, an excellent book on administrative justice by Ron Ellis. The book was recently shortlisted for the prestigious Donner Prize. Ron now has a website and blog, Administrative Justice Reform, on which he discusses various aspects of administrative justice. His recent series of posts on the restructuring of federal tribunals […] Read more

Cass Sunstein has a nice short essay on Justice Breyer in a forthcoming issue of the Harvard Law Review, “From Technocrat to Democrat“: There is an epistemic argument for judicial deference to the decisions of administrative agencies and legislatures: courts do not have easy access to relevant information, and they should defer to those who […] Read more

Martin v. Alberta (Workers’ Compensation Board), 2014 SCC 25 does little or nothing in the way of doctrinal development, and so should not be expected to have a lasting impact on the law. Three aspects of this Supreme Court of Canada decision are nonetheless worth highlighting in an effort to explain why Martin is best […] Read more

I was rather optimistic in thinking that the question of deference to ministerial interpretations of law had been settled by the Supreme Court of Canada in Agraira (see my post here). Two stern responses arrived last week from the Federal Court of Appeal, the body which deals more than any other with judicial review of […] Read more

Under the Federal Courts Act, the Federal Court has exclusive jurisdiction to issue an injunction, writ of certiorari, writ of prohibition, writ of mandamus or writ of quo warranto, or grant declaratory relief, against any federal board, commission or other tribunal. A notable absentee from this list is the writ of habeas corpus. Since its […] Read more

Towards the beginning of his classic essay “The Core of the Case against Judicial Review“, Jeremy Waldron notes that his argument is not directed against review of executive action, that is, most of what we conventionally call administrative law. The exclusion has always struck me as strange. Waldron’s argument is that courts are ill-suited relative […] Read more

A background check on a teacher reveals criminal history. He is fired by the elected members of the local school board after a meeting held behind closed doors. He contests the decision and seeks to question three of the commissioners before an arbitrator. They refuse, citing privilege. Unsuccessfully, as it turns out: Fédération autonome de […] Read more

My post welcoming Evans J.A.’s recent suggestion that weight could be accorded to administrative determinations of procedural fairness questions has provoked some debate, some in the comments section of that post, some on Twitter and some in emails to me. Another Federal Court of Appeal decision is therefore timely: Canada (Transport, Infrastructure and Communities) v. […] Read more