SCC To Revisit The Issue Of Delay In Administrative Proceedings

“Justice delayed is not always justice denied.” (Abrametz at para 171)

For over twenty years, the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in  Blencoe v British Columbia (Human Rights Commission), 2000 SCC 44, has been the leading case on delay in administrative proceedings. The SCC will have an opportunity to revisit the Blencoe  decision when it hears the Law Society of Saskatchewan's appeal of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal's decision in Abrametz v Law Society of Saskatchewan, 2020 SKCA 81. It is anticipated the appeal will be heard in November 2021.

In Blencoe, the SCC set a very high bar for a respondent seeking a stay of administrative proceedings based on undue delay, requiring “proof of significant prejudice which results from an unacceptable delay” (para 101). In cases where hearing fairness has not been compromised, the SCC held “the delay must be clearly unacceptable and have directly caused a significant prejudice to amount to an abuse of process” (para