On September 16, the Court of Appeal for Ontario delivered its reasons in Ontario (Disability Support Program) v. Tranchemontagne, 2010 ONCA 593. The appellate decision is the latest event in an ongoing legal battle — the case was previously litigated all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada to determine if the tribunal had [...]

In December of this year, the Supreme Court of Canada will hear the Attorney General of Canada and the Attorney General of Ontario appeal the Ontario Court of Appeal (OCA) decision, Mavi v. Canada (Attorney General), 2009 ONCA 794 [Mavi]. At issue in the OCA decision was how the government should behave when enforcing promises, [...]

The Tranchemontagne series of cases have received some previous attention on this site. In this note, however, I want to focus on one of the more significant, if understudied, aspects of the 2009 Ontario Disability Support Program v. Tranchemontagne Ontario Divisional Court decision. [1] In this decision the Court directly addresses a growing trend in [...]

The Federal Court of Appeal’s recent judgment in Hinzman v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2010 FCA 177 is a decisive, if transitory, victory for American Iraq war resisters seeking refuge in Canada. Transcending the narrow theme of conscientious objection, the decision simultaneously provides authoritative guidance on the standards expected of administrative decision-makers, the [...]

Last week the SCC released its decision in R. v. Conway, 2010 SCC 22. At issue was whether or not the Ontario Review Board (“ORB”) has the authority to grant remedies under s. 24(1) of the Charter. As noted by the SCC, the “wider issue [was] the relationship between the Charter, its remedial provisions and [...]

In December of this year, the SCC is scheduled to decide if the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (“CHRT”) has the authority to award legal costs under the Canadian Human Rights Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. H-6 (“CHRA”). In Mowat v. Canadian Armed Forces, 2006 CHRT 49, the complainant, Donna Mowat, alleged that while a member of [...]

On February 25, the British Columbia Court of Appeal released its decision in the administrative law case Taiga Works Wilderness Equipment Ltd. v. British Columbia (Director of Employment Standards), 2010 BCCA 97.  At issue was whether an appellate body is able to cure breaches of the rule of natural justice or procedural fairness committed by a [...]

TheCourt.ca is very pleased to reproduce the decisions of the Women’s Court of Canada. In 2004, this group of feminist/equality Charter activists, lawyers, and academics, decided to do something about what they saw as the sorry state of equality jurisprudence under s. 15. Their solution – rewrite the key decisions of the Supreme Court of [...]

On January 27, 2010, the UK Supreme Court struck down two UK Orders in Council that formed the entirety of the country’s terror financing and asset-freezing law (Her Majesty’s Treasury v. Mohammed Jabar Ahmed and others; Mohammed al-Ghabra; Hani El Sayed Sabaei Youssef ([2010] UKSC 2 & [2010] UKSC 5). The Court held the laws [...]

If the name Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab doesn’t ring a bell, you might know him better as the “Christmas Day bomber”. On December 25, Abdulmutallab managed to avoid the “rigorous” airline security in Amsterdam and boarded Flight 253 heading to Detroit with explosives strapped to his underwear. As Flight 253 began its descent towards Detroit, Abdulmutallab [...]