Privative Clauses: an Update on the Democracy Watch appeal

Some of you may know that along with Sujit Choudhry I am representing Democracy Watch in its appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada of the decision in Democracy Watch v. Canada (Attorney General), 2024 FCA 158. As is my practice, I do not intend to comment on the case between now and the Supreme Court’s decision, but readers may be interested to know that our written argument is now available on the Supreme Court’s website here.

I also want to draw attention to a decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal referenced in our argument: Northback Holdings Corporation v Alberta Energy Regulator, 2025 ABCA 186. Anyone interested in privative clauses and the relationship between judicial review and statutory rights of appeal will find much to ponder in the majority and minority reasons. Note that the unsuccessful appellants have also sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada (see here, here and here).

This content has been updated on August 5, 2025 at 13:14.