Executive Legislation, 3rd Edition

Recently cited by the Supreme Court of Canada in Auer v. Auer [2024] S.C.C. No. 36 and TransAlta Generation Partnership v. Alberta [2024] S.C.C. No. 37.

"This book is a must have not just for practitioners, who will here find answers to every conceivable question about regulations, but also for academics interested in the nature of legislation. Moreover, the most recent edition is especially timely as executive legislation featured prominently in governmental responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and the coming years are likely to see sustained reflection by the legal community on the use and abuse of executive legislation."

Reviewed by Professor Paul Daly
Chair in Administrative Law and Governance, University of Ottawa

Read the full review on the Administrative Law Matters Blog

The Definitive Text on Executive Legislation in Canada
Eleven years since the release of the second edition, John Mark Keyes has produced an update of Canada's definitive textbook on legislative instruments made by executive governmental authorities – Executive Legislation. This volume is the product of the author's 35 years of experience of legislative drafting, teaching and writing in this vital, but often overlooked area of law.

The book begins with a threshold examination of what constitutes executive legislation (which embraces instruments most commonly referred to as "regulations") in the context of a Westminster-based legal system that authorizes and delimits its effect as law. It then considers the constitutional framework for delegating executive legislative authority and the institutional (parliamentary and judicial) controls on the delegation and exercise of this authority. Next, it considers how executive legislation is made and operates within this context and provides a comparative law perspective ranging not only throughout Canada, but also across comparable Commonwealth jurisdictions (the UK, Australia and New Zealand).

Topics Covered

• Distinguishing characteristics of executive legislation and its relationship to other legal instruments for implementing governmental policy objectives
• Constitutional constraints on the delegation of executive legislative authority
• Standards of review applicable in the judicial review of executive legislation
• Interpretation of executive legislation and its enabling legislation
• Requirements governing the way executive legislation is made
• Substantive scope of authority to make executive legislation and the provisions it may contain
• Requirements to make or include content in executive legislation
• Mechanics of how executive legislation operates as well as the processes for its review by parliamentary, judicial and quasi-judicial bodies

What’s New in the 3rd Edition

• Substantial updates on developments over the past decade, including case law relating to the standard of review (Vavilov and subsequent cases, including case law on legislation addressing the pandemic)
• Focuses on the constitutionality of delegating legislative authority and the roles of parliamentary scrutiny and judicial review in sustaining its constitutionality
• Thoroughly re-organized and expanded to increase research efficiency, including four additional chapters in Part I

An Ideal Resource For

• Lawyers working for or with all levels of government, whether federal, provincial, municipal or Aboriginal, particularly regulatory lawyers – who work closely with regulations and other executive legislation
• Administrative and constitutional law practitioners – who appear before courts, boards and tribunals that deal with executive legislation
• Judges, tribunal members, adjudicators and other decision-making authorities – who interpret and review executive legislation