Clarifying Judicial Review With A Statutory Right Of Appeal

The Supreme Court recently provided much-needed clarification on the availability of judicial review when there is a statutory right of appeal. In its unanimous decision in Yatar v. TD Insurance Meloche Monnex, 2024 SCC 8, the Supreme Court of Canada clarified that judicial review remains available for issues not dealt with under a statutory right of appeal. In other words, contrary to the lower courts' holdings, judicial review is not limited to "exceptional" or "rare" circumstances when there is a statutory right of appeal. The Supreme Court referred the matter back to the Licence Appeal Tribunal adjudicator for reconsideration.

FACTS

Ms. Yatar was injured in a car accident in 2010 and applied for insurance benefits from her insurer. She initially received benefits, but her insurer later denied them. Ms. Yatar challenged the denial of benefits before an administrative tribunal (the Licence Appeal Tribunal), but her application was dismissed because she ran out