Two recent Canadian cases have dealt with the reviewability of soft law instruments and, in both instances, the courts came out against judicial review. In Harold the Mortgage Closer Inc. v. Ontario (Financial Services Regulatory Authority, Chief Executive Officer), 2024 ONSC 4464, the applicants challenged guidance issued by the Authority. Under the guidance, the Authority […] Read more

For a forthcoming contribution to an edited collection on interdisciplinary work in law and political science, I was asked to prepare a comment on a (very good) chapter by Dennis Baker and David Said. Here is Part I, on the divide between administrative lawyers and political scientists. In their contribution to this collection, Baker and […] Read more

In a pair of cases decided this summer, the Supreme Court of Canada addressed the division of jurisdiction between Canada’s tax court and federal courts. In both Dow Chemical Canada ULC v. Canada, 2024 SCC 23 and Iris Technologies Inc. v. Canada, 2024 SCC 24, the Court had to determine the appropriate venue for judicial […] Read more

As is well known, the appendix is a useless body part*. In Kolner v Alberta (Director of SafeRoads), 2024 ABKB 456, Bokenfohr J had to consider the legal utility of an appendix. It turns out that an appendix fares no better in administrative law than it does in the popular imagination. I have noted in […] Read more

A favoured tool of contemporary legislatures and regulators is the administrative monetary penalty. Rather than imposing criminal liability on regulated entities for breaches of industry standards, legislatures have regularly chosen to empower regulators to impose fines — often substantial — on offenders. These administrative monetary penalties have become an important part of the modern regulatory […] Read more

The High Court of Australia has for several years now struggled with the concept of materiality in the law of judicial review (see my piece from 2019). The judges have at times been squarely at odds about the meaning and scope of the concept. In LPDT v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural […] Read more

The theme for next year’s Administrative Law & Governance Colloquium is “Justifying Judicial Review”: Western constitutional democracies live in turbulent times, buffeted by populism, technological development, globalization and other challenges. Some see the courts as bastions of principle capable of helping countries to navigate contemporary storms. But others view judges as unelected philosopher kings who […] Read more

In this post I highlight two recent appellate decisions on evergreen topics for economic regulators: meetings with regulated entities and the right to counsel (or the absence thereof) in regulatory investigations. Meetings with Regulators Teksavvy Solutions Inc. v. Bell Canada, 2024 FCA 121 concerned an appeal from a rate-setting decision by the CRTC relating to […] Read more

Updated September 13 to account for a recent Canadian decision on the same theme Much governance in the contemporary administrative state is carried on by way of or reference to policies or guidelines. Three recent cases from England, Ireland and Canada address interesting aspects relating to the promulgation of policies or guidelines. Publicity is the […] Read more

Two recent decisions on virtual hearings are worth noting. First, in his capacity as an arbitrator, James T Casey recently addressed the issue in Northern Lakes Regional College v. Faculty Association of Northern Lakes Regional College, 2024 CanLII 42577. After canvassing the arbitral jurisprudence, Mr Casey proposes a useful analytical framework:    Preference of the […] Read more