On January 25, 2016, a three judge panel of the Federal Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed Canada’s appeal of the Federal Court’s refusal to summarily dismiss the application for judicial review concerning Senate vacancies. The Court issues brief oral reasons from the bench after hearing arguments the same day. A certified copy of the Court’s Reasons for Judgment is available here.
On January 25, 2016, a three judge panel of the Federal Court of Appeal (Pelletier, de Montigny and Gleason JJ.A) unanimously dismissed the federal government’s appeal of a Federal Court decision declining to dismiss the application for judicial review. In brief reasons provided orally from the Bench, the Court stated that it was not persuaded that the motions judge (Justice Sean Harrington) erred in finding that it was not plain and obvious that the application had no chance of success….
On January 22, 2016, both the Appellants (Prime Minister and Governor General) and Respondent (Aniz Alani) responded to the Federal Court of Appeal’s inquiry as to whether the Government’s announcement of an independent commission to advise on Senate appointments made the appeal moot. The Respondent provided a letter outlining arguments (to be presented on Monday, January 25) as to why the case was not moot and should still be heard. The Appellants also provided a letter indicating that, in their view,…
On January 19, 2016, the presiding judge of the Federal Court of Appeal issued the following Direction to the parties: The Court indicates that the parties be asked if the appeal is not made moot by the Minister’s January 19, 2016 announcement with respect to the establishment of an independent commission to advise the Government on Senate appointments, together with the Government’s undertaking to fill the current vacancies within the calendar year. If they agree that the matter has become moot,…