Administrative Law

Work through four steps in order: how the decision is challenged, procedural fairness, substantive review under Vavilov, and remedy. **First, the change.** The June 2026 syllabus uses the 9th edition of the casebook (Van Harten, Heckman & Promislow, 2026) and says it differs from the 8th edition past exams were based on. It also warns that notes and prep materials aren't a substitute for the assigned readings. If your materials predate June 2026, check them against the new page references. **1. How is the decision challenged?** - Is there a statutory right of appeal? It generally has to be used before judicial review. - Otherwise, is judicial review available? Check standing, the right court, and whether the decision is final rather than preliminary. **2. Procedural fairness** - *Source and trigger:* the statute; the common law (the three-part *Knight* test, or legitimate expectation); Charter s 7; the Bill of Rights for federal decision-makers; the duty to consult. - *Content:* use the *Baker* factors to set the level. Then name the specific entitlements (notice, hearing, disclosure, reasons) and whether they were met. Consider bias and independence separately. The syllabus warns that an uncritical laundry list earns no extra marks. - The syllabus notes that fairness is usually assessed on a correctness standard, without a standard-of-review analysis. **3. Substantive review** - *Vavilov* (2019): reasonableness is presumed. - Correctness applies where the legislature signals it, for example questions of law on a statutory appeal (*Bell Canada*, 2019). It also applies to rule-of-law categories: constitutional questions, general questions of central importance to the legal system as a whole, and jurisdictional boundaries between two or more administrative bodies. - *Society of Composers* (2022) adds concurrent first-instance jurisdiction. - For discretionary decisions engaging Charter protections, see *Doré* (2012). - The syllabus is explicit: a standard-of-review answer built on the old *Dunsmuir* contextual analysis gets no marks. **4. Remedy.** Remedies are discretionary. Usually the court sets the decision aside and sends it back; *Vavilov* explains when a court should decide the matter itself. Which step do you find hardest to apply to the facts? Source: [Administrative Law syllabus, June 2026](https://nca.legal/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Canadian-Administrative-Law-Syllabus-June-2026.pdf)