Hinse v. Canada (Attorney General), 2015 SCC 35 features some familiar fixtures, one drawn from daytime television — the innocent man wrongly imprisoned for a crime he did not commit — and one drawn from the common law — the officer(s) of the Crown exercising prerogative powers. Here, the Supreme Court of Canada’s sympathy for […] Read more

The Federal Court of Appeal decision in Hupacasath First Nation v. Canada (Attorney General), 2015 FCA 4 on justiciability of international treaties, the prerogative in respect of foreign affairs, the duty to consult First Nations and the jurisdiction of the federal courts is hugely significant (first-instance decision noted here). At issue was a foreign investment promotion […] Read more

Some time ago, I was critical of a decision of the Court of Appeal for England and Wales that permitted the executive to fetter the prerogative. I had missed the Supreme Court’s endorsement of this analysis last summer: R. (Sandiford) v. Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, [2014] UKSC 44. Lord Carnwath and Lord Mance put the […] Read more

Last week’s Federal Court ruling in Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care v. Canada, 2014 FC 651 that cuts to refugee healthcare were “cruel and unusual” punishment [ed: treatment, not punishment] that violated the Charter has understandably created a great deal of noise. The case will go on appeal, possibly to the Supreme Court of Canada. […] Read more

In my two earlier posts on the “third source” (here and here) I discussed the appropriate test for classifying government powers and whether they could be treated as arising from statute (as, on a generous reading, Lord Sumption suggested in R. (New London College Ltd.) v. Home Secretary, [2013] UKSC 51. In this post, I […] Read more

R. (Sandiford) v. Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, [2013] EWCA Civ 581 is a fascinating case.  A British citizen has been accused by the Indonesian authorities of drug trafficking, an offence which carries the death penalty in that jurisdiction. She wants the British government to fund her defence. Her arguments — which were rejected by the […] Read more

If honours were given for services to administrative law, Lord Black would be a strong candidate. His lawsuit against Prime Minister Jean Chrétien gave rise to an important decision on justiciability, Black v. Canada (Prime Minister), 54 OR (3d) 215. His more recent attempt to maintain his membership of the Order of Canada has prompted […] Read more

My colleague Stéphane Beaulac raises a question that has not (it seems) had any consideration: can Omar Khadr, now back in Canada, apply for habeas corpus? Khadr can apply for a conditional release next year, but perhaps he will not have to wait that long.Khadr can almost certainly apply for the Great Writ. The leading […] Read more

Blogging has been light recently: teaching, writing and administrative commitments, allied to some technical problems, have been holding me up.One interesting recent case, which I consider a useful launching pad for a consideration of justiciability, is Guergis v. Novak, 2012 ONSC 4579. Ms. Guergis is a former minister in the federal cabinet: you can read […] Read more

The UK Supreme Court decided two very interesting immigration cases the week before last, touching on two very interesting issues.The first issue was whether the royal prerogative in respect of immigration control had been ousted by the Immigration Act, 1971. That Act seems to be expressed in permissive terms. It allows, but does not require, […] Read more