The Justice System
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The Continued Relevance of “Jurisdiction”
This post is co-written with Leonid Sirota One of the innovations of Vavilov was its dispatch of so-called “jurisdictional questions” from the standard of review analysis. A long-time feature of Canadian administrative law, jurisdictional questions were said to arise “where the tribunal must explicitly determine whether its statutory grant of power gives it authority to Continue reading
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Through Which Glass, Darkly?
Introducing a new article on the Rule of Law in two decisions of the supreme courts of Canada and the United Kingdom Continue reading
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Expertise in Pandemic Life
With the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, many (for example, Phil Lagasse) have written about the role of experts in public life. The controversy seems to centre around a few points of contention: (1) the degree to which quintessentially political decisions should depend on expert guidance (2) the degree to which the public can Continue reading
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One Does Not Simply
Ensuring access to justice isn’t simply a matter of the legal profession’s being more open to “experiments” Continue reading
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Rafilovich: A Textualist (or Quasi-Textualist) Turn?
Since Telus v Wellman, the Supreme Court of Canada has moved towards a sort of “textually constrained” purposivism in statutory interpretation cases. To my mind, textually constrained purposivism involves two parts: (1) a focus on the text over abstract purposes in determining the meaning of text and (2) if there are conflicting purposes at the Continue reading
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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Pipeline…
The Rule of Law need not be exclusively the rule of courts. But in order for a society to be governed by the Rule of Law, even those who advocate a “thick” conception of the Rule of Law say that we need an impartial system of courts (see Tom Bingham, “The Rule of Law”; and Continue reading
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Ignoring Legislative Intent: Deference in Quebec and s.96
The constitutionality of a regime of deference is not something much explored in the wider context of Canadian administrative law. But in Quebec, the question is a live one because of particular statutory and judicial arrangements. The Quebec Court of Appeal just released a case [the Reference] that dealt with the question head on: does Continue reading
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The First Year of Law School
For many, the coming of September signals the start of a new school year. More specifically, law schools will be kicking into full gear in the coming days and weeks, and nervous 1Ls will occupy the halls of law schools the country over. 1L can be a scary time; meeting new people, overcoming the challenges Continue reading
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Guest Post: Andrew Bernstein
A response to Mark Mancini’s post on Supreme Court appointments Continue reading
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An Empty Vessel
Thoughts on the Justice Kasirer appointment process Continue reading
Double Aspect 