Section 31(2A): Not so Cava Bien?

In administrative law the question of list-making is a source of great debate: Is it desirable, or even possible, to capture the breadth of decision-making considered by administrative law through a neat list of principles? For some, lists are an essential feature of understanding, critical in ensuring that the law is answering the right legal questions. In administrative law the lack of structural organisation raises questions about the doctrinal rigour of the subject, creating wider concerns that open-textured approaches challenge the validity of the adjudicative process itself. For others, there is concern that the search for an “organising concept” can disguise or constrain how judicial reasoning is understood, leading to too many exceptions from the clear principles administrative lawyers have identified. All of this is to say that the question of list-making in administrative law is long-debated and difficult to answer.