Lord Black's Day at the Advisory Council for the Order of Canada

If honours were given for services to administrative law, Lord Black would be a strong candidate. His lawsuit against Prime Minister Jean Chrétien gave rise to an important decision on justiciability, Black v. Canada (Prime Minister), 54 OR (3d) 215. His more recent attempt to maintain his membership of the Order of Canada has prompted another decision, again dealing with the prerogative powers of the federal government, which is likely to make the next editions of Canadian administrative law textbooks: Black v. Advisory Council for the Order of Canada, 2012 FC 1234. 

I think Justice de Montigny was broadly correct in his conclusion that Lord Black did not have the right to an oral hearing before the Advisory Council, though not necessarily for the right reasons.

Self-Represented Litigants and Administrative Tribunals

We know that administrative tribunals have plenty of scope to design their own procedures, which need not resemble those of a regular court. But there are limits, as the Québec Court of Appeal recently explained in a case involving a real estate agent who represented himself -- unsuccessfully -- at a disciplinary hearing.