When can a hearing which has commenced be reassigned to a new decision-maker or a decision-maker substituted to render a final decision? Several recent decisions have attempted to wrestle with these thorny issues.

Each year one wonders whether the CBA Admin Law, Labour & Employment Law Conference will meet expectations created by the great conference the previous year. Without a doubt the 2017 Conference, held in Ottawa in November, met – even exceeded – them.

Much ink has been spilled over the significance of the principle of cooperative federalism, starting with whether it is even a recognized doctrine that can be relied upon to adjudicate disputes over the division of legislative powers established by the Constitution Act, 1867.

The Supreme Court of Canada in India v Badesha, has confirmed that the standard of review of reasonableness will apply to a review of a Minister's extradition decision. With that decision, an extradition order against two Canadian citizens accused of arranging an honour killing in India was reinstated.

In its latest volume, the University of New Brunswick Law Journal has focused on scholarship confronting issues in administrative and constitutional law.

In a valuable contribution to improve the accessibility and understanding of administrative law in Canada, Justice David Stratas from the Federal Court of Appeal has published a new summary of the law of judicial review. Over the course of more than 100 pages, Justice Stratas navigates the labyrinth that is administrative law with his usual humility and ease. The end result is an important resource for any student, lawyer, or judge working in this area.

Ellen Desmond reports on a successful outreach educational section that took place in Moncton, N.B., with a focus on the impact that reforms have had on the independence of tribunals at the institutional and individual levels.

Incoming Administrative Law Section Chair Karen Sinclair-Santos, Q.C., welcomes the new executive lineup and talks about what makes the Section one of the most active in the CBA, and what’s coming up for the Section in the next year.