Unjust by Design: Canada's Administrative Justice System (Law and Society Series)

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 executive
branch's administrative justice system is a justice system in
name only. Failing to conform to rule-of-law principles or
constitutional norms, its judicial tribunals are neither independent
nor, in law, impartial and are only providentially
competent.

Unjust by Design describes a system in transcendent need of
major restructuring. Written by a respected critic, it presents a
modern theory of administrative justice fit for that purpose. It also
provides detailed blueprints for the changes the author believes would
be necessary if justice were to in fact assume its proper role in
Canada's administrative justice system.

This book will provoke a serious debate within the legal profession,
the administrative justice system, the executive and legislative
branches of government, and perhaps within the public at large about
the structures and quality of our administrative justice system -
and also about the reforms proposed in this book. For the convenience
of those who might wish to contribute to that debate, the author has
organized an interactive
website, administrativejusticereform.ca, and invites all
interested parties to go there and talk to him and each other about
these important issues. To facilitate free and frank discussions, the
website will be structured to allow participants to elect to have their
names held in confidence if they wish to do so.Ron Ellis is an administrative law
lawyer, teacher, academic, arbitrator, and former chair and CEO of a
major administrative judicial tribunal. He has been teaching, speaking,
and writing about administrative justice system issues for more than
thirty years.