Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of Canada decided that it will hear an appeal of the Federal Court of Appeal's 2024 decision in Democracy Watch v. Attorney General of Canada (2024 FCA 158).
The fact that the Supreme Court will hear this case is significant as the matter involves a fundamental issue that has yet to be dealt with in a definitive manner by the courts (as the Federal Court of Appeal has itself recognized at the outset in its decision1). Specifically, whether Parliament (or a provincial legislature) may limit applicants' ability to bring judicial review applications through statute - that is, whether or not partial restrictions on judicial review in the applicable statute are valid or offend the rule of law.
As the Supreme Court made clear in Canada, legislative intent is the "polar star" of judicial review and "[b]ecause administrative decision makers receive their powers by statute, the governing statutory scheme is likely to...
