Administrative Law

Official description:

This course examines legal control over the administrative process and the exercise of power by public officials as these controls have developed in the administration, the legislature and the courts. Particular attention will be devoted to administrative procedure, including the right to notice and comment prior to the exercise of administrative power, the meaning of bias and impartial tribunals in various administrative settings, judicial review of administrative action, and remedies available.

Section specific description:

Put formally, administrative law deals with key statutory, common law and (occasionally) constitutional constraints on the actions of government officials, and with those remedies available when these constraints have been violated. In every material respect, it is the "law of government accountability". Administrative law determines the way in which the state interacts with the people, in a manner that is much more immediate than constitutional law.
I have concrete intellectual learning objectives for this course. By the end of this course, you should:

• appreciate the origins of administrative law and understand how administrative law relates to other areas of public law;
• appreciate the scope of delegated power in governance and the role of the courts in supervising the exercise of this power;
• understand the procedural obligations imposed on administrative decision-makers at common law and by statute, and the Charter;
• understand the jurisdiction of the Federal Court and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in policing administrative decision-making;
• understand the substantive legal principles governing judicial review of administrative decision-making; and,
• understand the remedies available to applicants on judicial review.

I also have concrete skill learning objectives for this course. By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• Identify legal issues presented to you in a slurry of undigested facts;
• Navigate administrative law principles, tribunal rules and decisions to propose reasonable outcomes to legal problems.
• Be able to work ethically with clients in resolving administrative law problems;
• Be able to advance a case in front of a representative administrative tribunal;
• Be able to advise clearly and succinctly an employing law firm or tribunal on the procedural rules that govern administrative proceedings;
• Be able to prepare a basic judicial review application of an administrative decision; and,
• Be able to perfect that application.

Last taught: 2023-24