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Distributed for University of British Columbia Press

Unjust by Design

Canada’s Administrative Justice System

Canadian legislatures regularly assign what are truly court functions to non-court, government tribunals. These executive branch “judicial” tribunals are surrogate courts and together comprise a little-known system of administrative justice that annually makes hundreds of thousands of contentious, life-altering judicial decisions concerning the everyday rights of both individuals and businesses. This book demonstrates that, except perhaps in Quebec, the administrative justice system is a justice system in name only. Failing to conform to rule-of-law principles or constitutional norms, its tribunals are neither independent nor impartial and are only providentially competent. Unjust by Design describes a justice system in transcendent need of major restructuring and provides a blueprint for change.

388 pages | © 2013

Law and Society


Table of Contents

Introduction

1 Defeating the Rule of Law in the Administrative Justice System: Executive Branch Strategies and Tactics

2 Administrative Justice: Getting the Context and Terminology Clear, the Concepts Straight, and the Prescription Right

3 Administrative Judicial Tribunals: The Inside Story

4 Prelude to Reform

5 The Reform Proposal

6 Implementing the Reform Proposal: A Strategy for Change

7 Meanwhile, a Toolkit for Litigators

Notes

Select Bibliography

Index

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