In a crucial decision last week, the Supreme Court of Canada expanded the scope of judicial review for tribunal decisions, holding that such review is available, even when a statutory right to appeal from such decisions is limited to pure questions of law.
The development came to light in the context of an insurance dispute where the insurer refused to pay accident benefits to the claimant, leading her to apply for mediation as necessitated by the law. With the mediation proving unsuccessful, the claimant sought to contest the denial of benefit by initiating a proceeding. However, her application was rejected by the court on the grounds of being time-barred. The claimant’s efforts to appeal this decision encountered hurdles at both the Divisional Court of Ontario and the Court of Appeal for Ontario, with both courts agreeing that judicial review was only permissible under “exceptional circumstances”.
Justice Rowe, providing the unanimous judgment, clarified that the limited right of appeal from Licence Appeal Tribunal decisions to pure questions of law did not denote an intentional move by the legislature to circumscribe the court’s jurisdiction in hearing other questions arising from the tribunal’s administrative decisions. The court’s decision to grant review in this case was based on the claimant’s motivation to raise a question of mixed fact and law. Accordingly, the court emphasized on the necessity to assess the suitability and appropriateness of judicial review alongside weighing the available alternatives. The court determined that a limitation on the provision of judicial review to “exceptional circumstances” marked an error of law committed by the lower courts.
These developments arrive amidst great pressures on Canada’s judicial system, spurred by increasing judicial vacancies nationwide. In February, the Federal Court of Canada asserted that the Trudeau government must fill these vacancies promptly, contending that significant delays in litigation proceedings amounted to the denial of access to justice without delay, and exerted an “appalling” impact on the legal system.
This recent ruling from the Supreme Court of Canada hopes to provide a new layer of clarity to the legal profession, elucidating the nuances of exercising judicial review for tribunal decisions.