Nothing new under the sun is to be found in Spirit Airlines v. Department of Transportation, but the facts are interesting.Although the U.S. air transportation market is largely deregulated, DOT retains the authority to prohibit “unfair or deceptive practice[s] . . . in air transportation or the sale of air transportation”. They issued a new […] Read more

In a previous post I expressed some scepticism about the distinction between express and implied statutory powers. In this post I suggest that the distinction should be jettisoned in favour of a focus on statutory interpretation, using the ordinary tools of text, purpose and context. In terms of the importance of text, it is useful […] Read more

Two pieces of proposed legislation are currently winding their way through Parliament, one about judicial discipline, one about compensation for air travel passengers. As drafted, both bills prompt serious questions about judicial oversight and open justice. Judicial Oversight Several judicial discipline cases in recent times have become bogged down in lengthy litigation, paid for out […] Read more

I have posted “The Ages of Administrative Law“, my contribution to this year’s Public Law Conference, to SSRN. Here is the second substantive part. Thoughts and comments very welcome. Central government did not regulate many aspects of public and private life in the 19th century. In Canada, the early years post Confederation were marked by […] Read more

In Canada, it has historically been very difficult to shed light on the decision-making processes of the highest levels of government. Cabinet decision-making is protected by conventions of confidentiality, public-interest immunity and, at the federal level, the regime under the Canada Evidence Act. Even when constitutional principles, such as judicial independence, are in play, disclosure of cabinet-level […] Read more

This is a draft of part of the chapter I submitted to a forthcoming collection (from the University of Ottawa Press) on the law, policy and ethics of COVID-19. I discussed the different “forms of governmental power” in a previous blog (see here). Comments welcome! Parliamentary sovereignty forms part of the constitutional bedrock of Westminster-style […] Read more

This post originally appeared on the blog of the Centre for Constitutional Studies As part of the Verfassungsblog’s excellent symposium on legal responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dean Knight penned an especially insightful contribution on New Zealand, noting how the response alla fine del mondo has taken various forms. In this post, I hope to […] Read more

John M. Evans is Public Law Counsel at Goldblatt Partners LLP, Toronto, and was formerly a judge of the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal The tenth anniversary celebration (if that’s the right word) of Dunsmuir has made me again sort through my thoughts on its significance in the development of administrative law […] Read more

In the Supreme Court of Canada’s latest administrative law decision — Delta Air Lines Inc. v. Lukács, 2018 SCC 2 — it attempted to give some guidance on the relationship between reasons and reasonableness in judicial review cases. It seems like signal rather than noise. There are two interesting aspects, one on the legitimacy of […] Read more

President Trump’s Executive Order on immigration derives its authority from the following statutory provision: Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall […] Read more