The Supreme Court of Canada clarified on Friday the scope of judicial review for tribunal decisions, holding that judicial review is available even when a statutory right to appeal from tribunal decisions is limited to pure questions of law.

The case involved an insurance dispute. The insurer refused to pay accident benefits to the claimant, and she applied for mediation as required by law. The mediation failed, and the claimant sought to commence a proceeding to contest the denial of benefit. The court refused to accept her application as it was time-barred. The claimant sought to appeal this decision, but both the Divisional Court of Ontario and the Court of Appeal for Ontario equally held that judicial review is only available in “exceptional circumstances.”

Penning the unanimous judgment, Justice Rowe stated that even though the law provides a limited right of appeal from the Licence Appeal Tribunal decisions to pure questions of law, the legislature did not intend to restrict the court’s jurisdiction in hearing other questions arising from the tribunal’s administrative decisions. The court held that the claimant in this case sought to raise a question of mixed fact and law. Therefore, the court must exercise its discretion by considering the suitability and appropriateness of judicial review and the available alternatives. The court concluded, writing that limiting the availability of judicial review in “exceptional circumstances” constitutes an error of law committed by the lower courts.

The ruling comes as Canada’s judicial system had come under great strain due to widespread judicial vacancies. In February, the Federal Court of Canada ordered the Trudeau government to fill judicial vacancies as soon as possible, contending that significant delays in litigation proceedings demonstrated a denial of access to justice without delay and caused an “appalling” impact on the legal system.