Administrative Law: Overview and Current Developments

The course will offer an introduction to the body of law that governs administrative and regulatory decision-making. It examines foundational rules and principles that apply across a wide range of areas of legal practice and policy-making. The administration (or executive branch of government) implements legislative policy and delivers government services in various fields, including public health and safety, immigration, labour relations, social benefits, securities regulation, business licensing and approvals, communications and broadcasting, and environmental protection. The administration also incorporates numerous tribunals, such as landlord-tenant boards, immigration appeals tribunals, or human rights commissions, that adjudicate disputes and implement policy outside of the courts. The course does not focus on any single substantive area of law or policy but rather primarily on the role of the courts in reviewing administrative and tribunal decision-making. It examines judicial oversight of administrative decision-makers through the doctrines of procedural fairness (how administrative decisions are made, the entitlement of individuals to participate in decision-making that affects them, and impartiality and independence of decision-makers), substantive review (the degree to which courts will review the merits or outcomes of administrative decisions), and remedies. The course also explores policy concerns and debates about the rules and principles in the field as well as theoretical themes arising from the relationship between the courts and other branches of the state.