On June 30, 2015, the Honourable Justice Jocelyne Gagné heard arguments from Aniz Alani and lawyers from the Department of Justice on whether a hearing into the constitutionality of the Prime Minister’s refusal to appoint Senators should be scheduled before the October 19, 2015 federal election.

Under the current default time limits in effect, the case would be ready to be heard once the government files its written arguments by September 29, 2015. Government lawyers are unavailable for a hearing between then and the federal election. Mr. Alani has proposed that time limits be abridged as necessary to accommodate an earlier hearing date.

Justice Gagné reserved judgment on the motion and indicated her intention to issue a ruling before the end of the week. Notice of the ruling will be posted on this site when it becomes available.

Written arguments are available to download here: [Applicant’s motion record] [Respondents’ motion record].