Commentary on developments in administrative law, particularly judicial review of administrative action by common law courts.
In an earlier post, I introduced the duty of candour in judicial review proceedings, which has been recognized by courts across the common law world. This is to be distinguished from those duties of candour that apply in national security proceedings, to regulated professionals and in private law settings. In this and subsequent posts I […] Read more
Yesterday, for the first time, the UK Government used s. 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 to prevent the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament from presenting a Bill for Royal Assent. The Bill in question is the Gender Recognition (Reform) Bill, which makes it easier to obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate under Scots law, […] Read more
The New Zealand Supreme Court’s recent decision in Moncrief-Spittle v Regional Facilities Auckland Limited [2022] NZSC 138 contains an illuminating discussion of many important issues, including the obligation of public decision-makers to take human rights into account in their decision-making processes. The incident which gave rise to the underlying litigation was the cancellation of an […] Read more
Two recent examples, both from the landlord and tenant context, of how not to run a fair hearing. In Abara v. Hall and Lee, 2022 ONSC 7093, a landlord successfully obtained an order terminating a tenancy but received no compensation: the Landlord and Tenant Board found that the tenants had vacated the property and that […] Read more
You can now register here for the sessions in this year’s Administrative Law & Governance Colloquium, to be held virtually (Tuesdays 11.30 to 12.50). The Colloquium kicks off on February 7, with Professor Margit Cohn: February 7, Professor Margit Cohn (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), on the executive February 21, Professor Liz Fisher (University of Oxford) […] Read more
The topic for the 2023 edition of the Administrative Law & Governance Colloquium was “The Legitimacy of the State”: The legitimacy of contemporary liberal democratic states is in a state of flux. Managing the effects of globalization, responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and fighting escalating inflation have prompted serious questions about public administration in the […] Read more
Defining the Duty of Candour The duty of candour requires parties to judicial review applications, especially government respondents, to “to make full and fair disclosure”.[1] They must “explain fully what has occurred and why”.[2] The duty has been recognized by the English courts[3] and by courts in other jurisdictions, such as New Zealand,[4] Ireland[5] and […] Read more
Probably the hottest topic in the world of Canadian regulation in recent months has been the proposed merger between two telecommunications behemoths, Rogers and Shaw, with the former essentially to absorb the latter. In extensive reasons published on New Year’s Eve, the Competition Tribunal found that the merger could go ahead: Canada (Commissioner of Competition) […] Read more
I recently speculated about the scope of the new correctness category recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada in Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada v. Entertainment Software Association, 2022 SCC 30. At today’s Supreme Court of Canada hearing in Mason (see my post here: I was co-counsel for one of the […] Read more
In a pair of decisions this week the Alberta Court of Appeal has tackled the question of the framework for judicial review of regulations: Auer v. Auer, 2022 ABCA 375 and TransAlta Generation Partnership v. Alberta (Minister of Municipal Affairs), 2022 ABCA 381. In both instances — Governor-in-Council regulations on support payments in Auer, ministerial […] Read more