Does the Attorney General have any authority or authority to issue a regulation which abrogates common law rights to justice and fairness?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Joplin v. Vancouver Police Department, 1982 CanLII 698 (BC SC):

The Attorney General concedes, correctly I think, that in the absence of clear language, the legislature is not to be presumed to have authorized the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make a regulation which abrogates the common law rights of our citizens to justice and fairness: Kane v. Univ. of B.C. Bd. of Gov., 1980 CanLII 10 (SCC), [1980] 1 S.C.R. 1105, [1980] 3 W.W.R. 125, 18 B.C.L.R. 124, 110 D.L.R. (3d) 311 at 322, 31 N.R. 214.

It is necessary, therefore, to consider whether a person in the position of the petitioner has an absolute right to be represented by counsel before a tribunal such as the one in question in this matter. I digress to mention that distinctions between quasi-judicial and administrative functions, and distinctions between the obligation to act in accordance with the rules of justice and with fairness seem, mercifully, to be no longer necessary: Martineau v. Matsqui Institution Disciplinary Bd., 1979 CanLII 184 (SCC), [1980] 1 S.C.R. 602, 13 C.R. (3d) 1, 15 C.R. (3d) 315,50C.C.C. (2d) 353, 106 D.L.R. (3d) 385 at 410-12, 30 N.R. 119, per Dickson J. As that learned judge said: … In the final analysis, the simple question to be answered is this: Did the tribunal on the facts of the particular case act fairly toward the person claiming to be aggrieved?

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