Paul Daly
Paul Daly
Chair in Administrative Law and Governance




Biography

Paul Daly has won global recognition for his scholarship in the broad field of public law, the study of the norms and institutions of government. In particular, Professor Daly is an internationally established expert on the administrative state, which churns out thousands of decisions every day – touching all aspects of ordinary citizens’ lives, from life-or-death immigration decisions, to compensation for workers injured on the job, all the way to the content of cable television.

Using the resources of his University Research Chair in Administrative Law & Governance, Professor Daly works to further enhance the relationship between the administrative state, individuals and the courts.

Dozens of Professor Daly’s publications, including posts on his blog Administrative Law Matters, have been cited more than 150 times by courts around the common law world, in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Israel and New Zealand. Fluent in English and French, he is a regular speaker at academic conferences, judicial and administrative training seminars and continuing legal education events from coast to coast to coast. In addition, he is an accomplished media performer (Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Radio Canada and The Economist).

Professor Daly has also appeared as counsel in many Canadian courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada, in precedent-setting cases in public law. Since September 1, 2019, he is a part-time member of the Environmental Protection Tribunal of Canada. In the 2023-2024 academic year he served as Scholar in Residence at the Law Reform Commission of Ireland.

Prior to his appointment at uOttawa, Professor Daly was a faculty member at the University of Cambridge and the Université de Montréal and has held visiting positions at Harvard Law School (visiting researcher), Université Paris II -- Panthéon-Assas (visiting professor), Louvain Global College of Law (visiting fellow) and Trinity College Dublin (visiting fellow).

Notable Publications

A Theory of Deference in Administrative Law: Basis, Application and Scope (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012)

The Canadian Constitution in Transition (University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 2019) (co-editor, with Richard Albert and Vanessa MacDonnell)

The Dunsmuir Decade/Les 10 ans de Dunsmuir (2018) Special Issue of Canadian Journal of Administrative Law & Practice (co-editor, with Léonid Sirota)

« Reprendre le contrôle : ironies et ennuis » (2018) 51 Revue juridique Thémis 159-188

“Administrative Law: Characteristics, Legitimacy, Unity” in Mark Elliott, Jason Varuhas and Shona Stark eds., The Unity of Public Law? Doctrinal, Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives (Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2018) 99-119

“A Pluralist Account of Deference and Legitimate Expectations” in Matthew Groves and Greg Weeks eds., Legitimate Expectations in the Common Law World (Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2017), 101-120

“Administrative Law: A Values-Based Approach” in John Bell, Mark Elliott, Jason Varuhas and Philip Murray eds., Public Law Adjudication in the Common Law World: Process and Substance (Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2016), 23-44

“The Language of Administrative Law” (2016) 94 Canadian Bar Review 519-544

“Deference on Questions of Law” (2011) 74 Modern Law Review 694-720

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