Like in previous years, this paper highlights significant developments in administrative law over the past year. Decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada, provincial appeal courts and other noteworthy judicial and legislative trends will be identified in an attempt to give a broad overview of the ever-developing principles of administrative law.
In 2008, the Supreme Court of Canada attempted to simplify the standards-of-review analysis in Dunsmuir. Not surprisingly, the aftermath of Dunsmuir has been both interesting and widespread. Courts have been interpreting and applying Dunsmuir in a vast array of administrative law decisions. Unfortunately, not all courts have gotten it right and it has become apparent that some areas of the standards-of-review analysis are still unclear and misunderstood. A good deal of this year’s paper will focus on the aftermath of Dunsmuir and the areas that still require clarification.
Of course, there also have been interesting cases dealing with all aspects of the duty to be fair, multiple forums, privacy and disclosure, and the usual multitude of interesting administrative law cases that do not fit neatly into the categories above.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION
II. STANDARDS OF REVIEW
A. The Aftermath of Dunsmuir
III. THE DUTY TO BE FAIR
IV. STANDING
V. MULTIPLE FORUMS—CONCURRENT, EXCLUSIVE, SEQUENTIAL
VI. DISCLOSURE AND PRIVACY
VII. A MISCELLANY OF OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
VIII. CONCLUSION