Administrative Law Matters

Commentary on developments in administrative law, particularly judicial review of administrative action by common law courts.

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Uncovering Disguised Correctness Review? Wilson v. British Columbia (Superintendent of Motor Vehicles), 2015 SCC 47

Canadian courts have sometimes described undeferential reasonableness review as “disguised correctness”, cases in which a court says it is applying a reasonableness standard but in fact performs its own analysis of the law and the facts to reach an independent conclusion that it labels ‘reasonable’ or ‘unreasonable’. Here are some examples of judicial uses of […] Read more

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Regulation and the Constitution: Goodwin v. British Columbia (Superintendent of Motor Vehicles), 2015 SCC 46

It is boom time in Canada for cases involving the constitutionality of regulatory regimes. Joining the recent decision in Guindon (see here) is last week’s judgment in Goodwin v. British Columbia (Superintendent of Motor Vehicles), 2015 SCC 46. At issue here was British Columbia’s regime of roadside breathtesting of drivers. Driving suspensions are imposed, with […] Read more