Course or Seminar Category: Constitutional and Administrative Law

Administrative Law

Administrative law is the law of public decision-making. It applies to a diverse group of public officials who exercise delegated power and deliver public programs and services. This group of public officials (i.e. administrative decision-makers) includes, for example, the Landlord and Tenant Board, the Ontario Social Benefits Tribunal, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, the Parole Board, the Canadian Judicial Council, the Benchers of the Law Society of Ontario, Cabinet (at the federal and provincial levels), municipal councils, many university decision-makers, public inquiries, and so on. Administrative decision-makers make countless decisions that impact the daily lives of individuals and communities, and many of these decisions involve a great deal of discretion. Administrative law aims to ensure that these decisions are transparent and justified, are unbiased and made according to fair procedure, are consistent with constitutional demands, and are within the scope of the decision-maker’s power.

In this course, we will critically examine whether administrative law achieves these aims. We will explore the following kinds of questions: How and why are certain public powers delegated to administrative decision-makers? What role do these decision-makers play in the structure of Canadian public life and in the lives of individuals? What principles should govern the design of administrative decision-makers to protect against and address individual and systemic bias? How do administrative bodies carry out their mandates and exercise their powers? What legal rules and principles govern administrative decision-making? What legal rights do individuals have when they access public services? Of what relevance is administrative law for Indigenous self-governance? What role does administrative law play in both undermining and advancing reconciliation? What are the principles and who are the actors of Aboriginal administrative law? When are courts justified in intervening in the decisions of public authorities? What remedies are available when public officials act unfairly, unreasonably or unlawfully? In answering these questions, we will seek to examine the rules of administrative law, the experiences of those affected by the administrative state, the ideals of justice that shape the law, the policy debates underlying administrative law, and the realities of practice in the administrative realm.

Administrative Law

Administrative decision-makers are delegated authority by statute to implement legislative policy and deliver government services in a wide range of fields including public health and safety, immigration, labour relations, social benefits, securities regulation, business licensing and approvals, tenancies, professional regulation, communications and broadcasting and environmental protection, among others. For most people, interaction with the law is through one, or more, of these administrative decision-making bodies. Administrative law is the study of the rules that regulate the decision-makers exercise of this delegated power, including rules about fairness, transparency, justification, independence and compliance with the constitution and the decision-makers own jurisdiction. This course is an introductory overview of administrative law. The course will provide students with the necessary tools to engage meaningfully with the various statutory schemes and principles governing the administrative state, to think critically about the court’s role in reviewing administrative decisions, to question and compare the manner in which legislative policy is delivered by a variety of different administrative bodies and to reflect on what this communicates about the relative value the state places on different policies and services.

Statutory Interpretation

This course will: (a) provide the means to critically evaluate and apply approaches to the interpretation of statues, both as a matter of theory and practice; and (b) give students the opportunity to apply these approaches to various legal problems and examples. Various topics will be discussed, including:

1. Judicial approaches to statutory interpretation;
2. Competing interpretive theories;
3. The nature of “legislative intent”;
4. Maxims and rules of interpretation, both common law and statutory;
5. Presumptions underlying the interpretive exercise;
6. Practical considerations in legislative drafting; and
7. Evidence of legislative intent.

The overall emphasis is on the language of the law and the practical application of statutory language and concepts.

Taxation Law

This is not an accounting course. Neither is it a course singularly concerned with public finance. While income tax law is unavoidably concerned with public finance and tax accounting, there is so much more to it. The determinations of what is “income”, who is a “taxpayer”, which taxpayers pay which rates of income tax and the scope of tax deductions / credits carry profound socioeconomic implications. This course provides an introductory survey of income tax taking up the policy and technical dimensions of income tax with a central emphasis on the taxation of individuals. The course imparts knowledge relevant to core income tax concepts, financial literacy, recurring political debates (which often involve questions of taxation) and strategies for working within a complex statute.

The material for this course will be delivered in an lecture format. All assigned readings will be supplemented by detailed PowerPoint materials. These materials are not cryptic bullet point summaries of the readings. Instead, they are carefully prepared to bring greater context, organization and coherent explanation to assigned readings. All PowerPoint materials follow a disciplined, consistent and orderly format, breaking materials down by topic and sub-topic. The verbally delivered lecture content tracks very closely with the PowerPoint materials, adding further explanation, context and debate to these materials. If students scrutinize the readings, digest the supplementary PowerPoint materials and participate in lectures, they will be equipped to succeed in the course.

Taxation Law

Taxation Law is the foundational course in tax. It is one of the highly recommended courses for
students at Osgoode. It is intended for students who find tax issues intriguing or want to develop a stronger understanding of tax. It is also for those who are interested in the many substantive areas of law which invariably intersect with tax.

The course is a survey of the federal income tax system, with a focus on the taxation of individuals. Students will learn about the general framework of the Income Tax Act, come to appreciate the underlying principles and policies of the system, and develop statutory interpretation skills that will serve them well in practice.

Students are expected to prepare for classes by completing the assigned readings and reflecting on them. The amount of readings for the course is modest. Attendance is required.

The main reading material for the course is Li, Magee and Wilkie, Principles of Canadian Income Tax Law (10th edition). Students will have access to an electronic copy of this book. They may also obtain a hard copy from the publisher (Thomson Reuters) or the York University Library.

Public International Law

This course provides an introductory survey of public international law as a discipline and a political enterprise through the lens of the function of international legal system, its norms, processes, institutions, actors and participants. We will tackle a few legal doctrinal questions ranging from sources of international law to regulation of the use of force, humanitarianism, forceful intervention, and more with an eye on the shrinking lines between the domestic and the international and another on the changing notion of the ‘international’. Throughout, our doctrinal investigation will take aid from both theoretical literature and historical and contemporary state of international political life to weigh the possibilities and limitations of international law in global affairs.

Refugee Law

Refugee protection is in a perpetual state of crisis, both domestically and abroad. Many refugee law practitioners and scholars argue that states are retrenching from their duty to provide refugees with the protection to which they are entitled under international law. At the same time, some government actors, media figures and civil society groups contend that existing refugee determination processes are excessively generous and are subject to widespread “abuse” by economically motivated migrants. Still others suggest that refugee protection regimes either distract from or help reinforce a deeper problematic: control over migration that serves to entrench global disparities in income, wealth and security.

This course offers students an opportunity to engage critically with these and other debates over refugee law at the level of theory, policy and practice. This critical engagement will occur through a collaborative examination of refugee law instruments, institutions and jurisprudence in international and domestic forums, with a heavy emphasis on Canada.

The course will be offered through online modules, lectures and class discussions. The course will also include several weeks of student-led teaching in the second half of the term. There will be two written assignments. The course requires consistent and active student participation throughout the term, including participation in evaluated group work. There is no final exam or final paper. The course, including all evaluated work, will be complete by the final day of class.

Note that the course will be offered in a hybrid remote/in-person format (hyflex). Students can attend classes either on campus or remotely via Zoom.

Securities Regulation

This is a four hour course in which we will deliver an overview of securities regulation in Canada from a practitioner’s perspective. We will review the Ontario Securities Act, regulations and policies, and will reference certain securities laws in other jurisdictions as well. We will study certain key securities regulatory concepts and how they intersect with today’s corporate finance markets. Our review will include: the meaning of terms such as “security”, “trade” and “distribution”; primary and secondary distribution of securities; prospectus offerings; private placement exemptions and resale rules; regulation of the trading markets including various stock exchange rules; capital pool companies and SPACs; continuous and timely disclosure; takeover bid legislation; mergers and acquisitions; primary and secondary market civil liability; and regulatory enforcement issues. Our goal is to have our students leave the course with a solid grounding in Canadian securities law as well as a good understanding of how these laws impact corporate finance in Canada.

Labour & Employment Law

This course provides an introductory overview of labour and employment law in Ontario and beyond. Students will work to build a conceptual framework for understanding the legal regulatory regimes governing the individual contract of employment and collective bargaining. We will delve into the purposes and foundational assumptions of these regimes with a view to the scope and parameters of protection, and the veritable silences and deficiencies. Expect to be exposed to a range of critiques, from reformist to radical, and to gain appreciation for how labour and employment law shapes, and in turn is shaped by, the everyday lives and demands of ordinary working people.

The course is open to all and will provide a gateway into more advanced topics and courses in this and other fields. It is especially well-suited for students wanting to deepen appreciation for social justice.

Land Use Planning

This course will provide an overview of the law of land use planning and development law regime in Ontario, with an emphasis on the processes, approvals, and contractual arrangements involved
In the development of land, with reference to the Planning Act.

Topics will include the provincial and municipal roles in land use planning and a close examination of the various land use planning instruments and processes, including official plans, zoning by-laws, draft plans of subdivision/consents to sever, site plan approval, building permits, etc. The course will also examine indirect land use controls such as development agreements, development charges and other fees, charges and levies. Students will be introduced to legislation and policies that regulate the heritage protection of built form, expropriation law, indigenous interests in land use planning, and building construction.

The role of the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) will be discussed, as well as local appeal bodies. Emphasis will be placed on the significant role that local government has with respect to land use planning. The course will accordingly combine aspects of municipal law with an understanding of
the land development process.

Overall, the course will provide students with an understanding of the powers and rights available to citizens, stakeholders, landowners, governments, non-governmental organizations, and public
sector agencies in shaping land use planning in Ontario.

As learning objectives, students should, by the end of the course:
· demonstrate a high degree of knowledge of the main principles and rules applicable to the land use planning regime in Ontario, with a particular focus on the Planning Act and select case law, and be able to apply these principles and rules to various fact situations in a relevant, precise and well-structured way;
· have an appreciation of other important Ontario statutes that impact the land use planning and development regime in Ontario, and be able to apply relevant portions of these statutes;
· be familiar with the basic functions and powers of municipalities in Ontario;
· understand the general role and the administrative procedures of the OLT and the matters that it adjudicates; and
· develop a critical perspective on the land use planning regime in Ontario, and be able to explain how certain policy objectives may be fulfilled or, alternatively, frustrated by aspects of the regime.

Note: there may be occasional guest lecturers on select topics.