Administrative law | Page 3

Book chapters

The Policy/Operational Distinction – A View from Administrative Law

We can all doubtless agree that government action that causes harm to individuals should result in liability, save where officials have had to make difficult decisions in balancing complex economic, social, cultural and political considerations. Drawing a line between government action that gives rise to liability and government action that does not is, however, fiendishly […] Read more

Comments

The Policy/Operational Distinction in Canadian Tort Law: R. v. Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., 2011 SCC 42, [2011] 3 S.C.R. 45

* This is an extract from a forthcoming article, “The Policy/Operational Distinction — A View from Administrative Law“. Download a draft here. * The uninitiated might look at the Supreme Court’s recent decision in R. v. Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., 2011 SCC 42, [2011] 3 S.C.R. 45 and suggest that the policy/operational distinction is no longer […] Read more

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Court Fees, Constitutional Rights and the Common Law

In a remarkable decision yesterday, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down British Columbia’s regime of court fees as unconstitutional: Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia v. British Columbia (Attorney General), 2014 SCC 59. A litigant was faced with a $3,600 bill for scheduling a 10-day trial. She could not pay the court fees — […] Read more

Books

Judicial Deference to Administrative Tribunals in Canada: its History and Future

Is the decision of an administrative tribunal owed deference on the review standard of “reasonableness”? What constitutes an “unreasonable” interpretation of the law? What is the proper application of the deferential standard of review? In short – and based on the ongoing evolution of the deference doctrine – when is it appropriate for a reviewing […] Read more