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VAVILOV - JR - Starting Point. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov
In Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov (SCC, 2024) the Supreme Court of Canada revises the law of 'standard of review' ('SOR') for judicial reviews (JR) of administrative tribunal decisions and procedures. 'Standards of review' indicate the degree of deference that applies to the decisions of the lower court/tribunal/body - either on a JR or an appeal, by the reviewing body. The below extracts deal with 'reasonableness', the SOR for JRs - which are primarily addressed at errors by administrative tribunals - thus the term 'reasonableness review'.
Here the court notes the unique significance of the Vavilov case for administrative and JR law, overriding wide areas of stare decisis in the areas:IV. Role of Prior Jurisprudence
[143] Given that this appeal and its companion cases involve a recalibration of the governing approach to the choice of standard of review analysis and a clarification of the proper application of the reasonableness standard, it will be necessary to briefly address how the existing administrative law jurisprudence should be treated going forward. These reasons set out a holistic revision of the framework for determining the applicable standard of review. A court seeking to determine what standard is appropriate in a case before it should look to these reasons first in order to determine how this general framework applies to that case. Doing so may require the court to resolve subsidiary questions on which past precedents will often continue to provide helpful guidance. Indeed, much of the Court’s jurisprudence, such as cases concerning general questions of law of central importance to the legal system as a whole or those relating to jurisdictional boundaries between two or more administrative bodies, will continue to apply essentially without modification. On other issues, certain cases —including those on the effect of statutory appeal mechanisms, “true” questions of jurisdiction or the former contextual analysis — will necessarily have less precedential force. As for cases that dictated how to conduct reasonableness review, they will often continue to provide insight, but should be used carefully to ensure that their application is aligned in principle with these reasons.
[144] This approach strives for future doctrinal stability under the new framework while clarifying the continued relevance of the existing jurisprudence. Where a reviewing court is not certain how these reasons relate to the case before it, it may find it prudent to request submissions from the parties on both the appropriate standard and the application of that standard.
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