Liability of the Crown
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Liability of the Crown: Are Immunities Unnecessary in Québec? By Nicholas Jobidon A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. in Law Faculty of postdoctorate and graduate studies University of Ottawa © Nicholas Jobidon, Ottawa, Canada, 2020 Abstract The Crown has extensive powers and can sometimes cause injuries to those it governs through the use or misuse or these powers. Since there is no legislative scheme in place in Québec to create a specific regime for compensating these injured parties, the Crown is generally subject to the law of the land just like any other subject of the law. The separation of powers in Canada limits the power of the courts to review and evaluate Crown actions. The deference they must exercise in this review ensures that courts do not encroach on the legislative’s will to endow the Crown with its sovereign powers. This deference is relatively well understood in public law when it comes to declaring whether the use of these sovereign powers by the Crown was legal and within its mandate. The same principle of deference also applies to civil lawsuits in compensation. In Québec, the current form this deference takes is that the Crown is immune from normal rules of civil liability when it uses its core policy powers (such as regulatory powers), unless these powers were exercised in bad faith. This judicial scheme, however, appears unnecessary and needlessly complex. The definition of bad faith has been construed by the Supreme Court to include any action that would constitute a gross fault under the Québec civil law regime; in practice, the exercise of policy powers would command deference even if the standard was that of a simple fault. This means that the immunity only protects the Crown from injuries caused by the sort of action that it would not be liable for under the private law regime, making the immunity unnecessary. ii Résumé La Couronne dispose de pouvoirs étendus et peut parfois causer préjudice à ses sujets par l’utilisation à bon ou mauvais escient de ces pouvoirs. Puisqu’il n’y existe pas de régime législatif spécifique au Québec visant la compensation de ces préjudices, la Couronne est généralement assujettie au régime de droit commun comme tout autre sujet de droit. Au Canada, le principe de séparation des pouvoirs impose une limite au pouvoir des cours de justice de réviser les actes de la Couronne. La déférence dont ils doivent faire preuve dans l’exercice de ce pouvoir de révision empêche les tribunaux d’empiéter sur la volonté législative d’octroyer des pouvoirs souverains à la Couronne. Cette déférence est relativement bien comprise en droit public et est utile pour déterminer quand l’utilisation de ces pouvoirs souverains est effectivement légale et à l’intérieur du mandat de la Couronne. Le même principe de déférence est également applicable aux recours de droit civil en compensation contre la Couronne. Au Québec, la déférence prend la forme d’une immunité empêchant l’application des règles usuelles de responsabilité civile à l’encontre des décisions de politique générale (comme par exemple les pouvoirs réglementaires), à moins que ces décisions ne soient empreintes de mauvaise foi. Ce régime juridique semble toutefois superflu et inutilement complexe puisque la définition de mauvaise foi a été interprétée par la Cour Suprême comme incluant toute action qui constituerait une faute lourde en vertu du régime de droit commun québécois de la responsabilité civile; en pratique toutefois, même le standard de faute simple pourrait suffire. Cela signifie que l’immunité protège la Couronne uniquement contre les dommages causés par le type d’actions qui n’engageraient pas sa responsabilité en vertu du régime de droit commun, ce qui rend l’immunité superflue. iii To the friends and family who were part of this journey, With thanks to my mentors and advisors. iv Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 Part 1 The Crown, The Courts, and Deference ................................................................ 14 Chapter 1 The Crown as a Special Subject of the Law ............................................................. 14 Section 1 The Ineffable Nature of the Crown ............................................................................................... 15 Section 2 The Legal Status of the Crown ......................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 2 The Rule of Law .............................................................................................................. 27 Section 1 Public Law and the Extraordinary Powers of the Crown .................................................. 28 § 1 Tethered powers: Discretion, Arbitrariness, and the Role of the Judiciary ................................... 29 § 2 Untethered, or Prerogative powers ............................................................................................................. 35 Section 2 Private Law: the Idea of Equality and Ordinary Powers of the Crown ...................... 37 § 1 Dicey’s Idea of Equality in Québec and Canada ....................................................................................... 43 § 2 Public Law, the Idea of Equality, and the Civil Code of Québec .......................................................... 48 § 3 Ordinary Powers – the Crown Acting as a Citizen .................................................................................. 52 Section 3 Distinguishing Between the Application of Private and Public law ............................ 55 Chapter 3 Judicial Deference ......................................................................................................... 59 Section 1 Deference and Justiciability .............................................................................................................. 60 § 1 Qualifying Deference......................................................................................................................................... 61 § 2 Justiciability ......................................................................................................................................................... 65 Section 2 Judicial Review: In matters regarding the legality of its decisions .............................. 67 § 1 When Judicial Review Applies ....................................................................................................................... 67 § 2 Arbitrariness, Competence, and the Control of Public Authority ...................................................... 70 § 3 Public Law Remedies ........................................................................................................................................ 74 Section 3 Crown Liability: In matters regarding the injuries caused by its decisions ............ 76 Part 2 Deference in Extra-Contractual Liability of the Crown .................................... 82 Chapter 1 The Law of the Land: NorMal Rules of Extracontractual Liability ................... 83 Section 1 The Role of Extracontractual Liability ........................................................................................ 83 Section 2 Civil Law Extracontractual Liability ............................................................................................. 86 § 1 Fault ........................................................................................................................................................................ 87 § 2 Injury ...................................................................................................................................................................... 99 Section 3 Common Law Torts............................................................................................................................ 101 § 1 The Tort of Negligence ................................................................................................................................... 102 § 2 The Tort of Abuse of Power and Misfeasance in Public Office.......................................................... 112 Section 4 Significant Points of Comparison Between Common Law and Civil Law .............. 118 Chapter 2 IMMunities as a ForM of Deference in Private Law .......................................... 122 Section 1 History of Solutions in Extracontractual Liability ............................................................. 123 § 1 The King Can Do No Wrong .......................................................................................................................... 124 § 2 Crown Servants and Designated Defendant ........................................................................................... 129 § 3 Immunity for Discretionary Actions .......................................................................................................... 139 § 4 The Policy/Operational Distinction ........................................................................................................... 148 § 5 Core Policy Decisions ...................................................................................................................................... 174 Section 2 Current Solution in Extracontractual Crown Liability: Immunities ......................... 184 § 1 Statutory Immunities.....................................................................................................................................