CCAT's 5th International Conference
June 11, 2010
The World and Administrative Justice: Forward, to Basics!
5th International Conference and the 26th Annual Conference
Le Sheraton Centre Montreal, Montreal, Quebec
May 30 to June 1st, 2010
Montreal, June 2, 2010 ─ The 5th International Administrative Justice Conference organized by the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals (CCAT) was held at Le Centre Sheraton in Montreal from May 30 to June 1st, 2010. In all, 525 registered participants had the opportunity to assist at twenty different sessions dealing with the challenges facing administrative justice in a world constantly in motion.
Under the theme The World and Administrative Justice : Forward, to Basics!, this event brought together, as invited speakers, leaders in the administrative justice field from international organization. Five continents came together to reflect on the future questions facing administrative justice.
On Sunday May 30, CCAT's President, Guy Giguère, and Chairman, Public Service Staffing Tribunal, and Co-Chairs Mrs. Hélène Kovachich, President and Chief Administrative Judge of the Tribunal administratif du Québec and Mr. Jean-François Clément, President and Chief Administrative judge of the Commission des lésions professionnelles welcomed the guests at an opening luncheon where the Honourable Kathleen Weil, Quebec’s Minister of Justice was present to welcome the conference participants.
The topics discussed during the conference and the experiences shared by the speakers coming from outside our borders allowed us to unearth the principal challenges facing administrative tribunals in the future and hence to find possible solutions, technological and others, to be put in place in order to attain the results sought.
Exchanges were most fruitful when discussing the fundamental principles namely the status of administrative justice.
In fact, in Canada, administrative tribunals are not considered part of the traditional judicial system but the principle of court deference is applied. In the United Kingdom, since the 2005 reform, administrative tribunals are part of the judicial system. This fusion of the administrative and judicial systems preserves for all adjudicators involved the same guarantees of independence as well as accessibility and cost efficiency characteristics of administrative justice. Although Belgium, Australia, Mexico and North American aboriginal jurisdictions have adopted different models, each adapted to their cultural particularities, they have maintained the same values and aims in order to fulfill the same objectives.
On the national level, consensus dictates that one conclusion is to be drawn: even superior courts cannot take the place of Parliament and Provincial legislatures who must pass legislation to put Canada and the Provinces in tune with the rest of the world.
It therefore belongs to the different orders of government to put in place a constitutional reform needed for a strong and modern administrative justice.
The CCAT is a national organization whose mandate is to support the members of administrative tribunals in Canada and to promote excellence in matters of administrative justice.
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Information:
Arthur B. Trudeau, Executive Director
Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals
Telephone: (819) 684-0468
ABTrudeau@videotron.ca
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