The Administrative State in Practice (LAW210H1S)

This advanced seminar will explore the functioning of the state – its Ministers, departments and officials, as well as its tribunals and independent agencies – and the efficacy of administrative law as the fundamental set of rules that enables that functioning. The course will focus on substantive administrative law doctrine and jurisprudence, and will explore the rules and procedures that govern the availability of judicial supervision of state actions and decisions. An important perspective to be considered throughout is the efficacy of the administrative law doctrine (past and present) at achieving the objects of public policy. To that end, we may consider selected case studies that present challenges to the “adjudicative tribunal” paradigm, such as First Nations governance misinformation and disinformation; intellectual property protection; defamation, threats to privacy and other harms of social media activity; environmental regulation; public inquiries, or other current policy problems. The object is to develop (i) broader insight into the functioning of administrative law jurisprudence, (ii) the ability to critically assess the successes and failures of administrative powers and processes interest, in meeting the public interest, and (iii) a deeper understanding of the strategic use of administrative law litigation to affect the implementation of government policy from the ground up.