CPL Seminar: 'Divergence and Convergence in English and Canadian Administrative Law'

Speaker: Dr Paul Daly, University of Cambridge

At first glance, administrative law in Canada, where courts regularly defer to administrative decision-makers' interpretations of law and judicial review of administrative action is organised around the concept of reasonableness, is very different to administrative law in England, where courts do not defer to administrative interpretations of law and prefer to conceive of the justification for judicial oversight of administrative action in terms of grounds of review and jurisdictional error. One might think, based on this first glance, that the differences must be attributable to deep-seated disagreement about the nature of judicial power and the appropriate allocation of interpretive authority between the branches of government. One might even suspect that such disagreement must rest on long-settled historical foundations. I will argue, however, that the difference between Canadian and English administrative law is best explained by relatively recent accidents of history. Indeed, I will suggest, a prolonged period of divergence may be coming to an end, with the transatlantic rise of reasonableness review ushering in a new era of convergence.

This seminar is open to all LLM, MCL and PhD students, Faculty members and Faculty visitors.