I made a presentation last week to the members of the new Refugee Appeal Division and their legal advisers. The RAD hears appeals from the Refugee Protection Division: most of the relevant statutory provisions are contained in Part IV of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. One of the questions the members of the RAD […] Read more

Volochay v. College of Massage Therapists of Ontario, 2012 ONCA 541, involves a masseur, (alleged) extra-marital sex, (alleged) intimidation of a witness and (allegedly) a vengeful government agency. A story interesting enough, then, to survive even the following injection of administrative law principles.A former patient of the applicant’s made a complaint against him, on the […] Read more

I have posted “Vavilov on the Road” to SSRN. Here is the abstract: In this paper, I draw attention to recent cases and issues arising from the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2019 reformulation of administrative law principles in Vavilov. These recent materials either confirm the direction of travel or require slight adjustments to keep things […] Read more

French Abstract: Dans divers régimes réglementaires canadiens, le législateur – autant au fédéral qu’au provincial – a créé un droit d’en appeler d’une décision à l’intérieur d’un organisme administratif. Quelles normes doit alors appliquer l’instance d’appel?La problématique de la norme de révision à l’intérieur d’un organisme réglementaire est devenue de plus en plus pressante depuis […] Read more

Regular readers know of my fascination with the “internal standard of review” problem: how does an appellate body within the administration go about reviewing first-instance decisions? The issue will shortly be before the Federal Court of Appeal, in the context of refugee appeals. I have a paper (in French) on the subject which will appear […] Read more

Once more unto the ‘internal standard of review’ breach. Do the principles regulating judicial review by courts of administrative decision-makers apply when there is an appeal within an agency, and if so, to what extent? I tackled this question last year in the context of the Refugee Appeal Division. Now, the Federal Court has pronounced […] Read more

For the opening post in this series, see here. Those in the discretion camp do not take sides as between legislative intentionalists and constitutional traditionalists. Rather, they would use the remedial discretion of the superior courts to refuse to grant a remedy for factual error in most cases. In that way, respect can be paid […] Read more

To mark the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, I thought I might highlight Grammond J’s fascinating decision in Bastien v. Jackson, 2022 FC 591, which prompts questions about the relationship between the principles of administrative law and the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples. B and J were councillors of the Piikani Nation. B brought a […] Read more

I have uploaded a pre-proof version of the first chapter of A Culture of Justification: Vavilov and the Future of Administrative Law to SSRN: “Why is Administrative Law So Complicated?” Here is an extract: All Canadians are affected by the administrative state in all sorts of ways: when they return from abroad; apply for a […] 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