Abstract/Summary

Good governance is one of the important values that administrative law serves. It is a complex concept. The author describes the nature of good governance and how administrative law supports it, as well as the limits of its ability to do so, in relation to the quality and efficiency of the decision-making process, the substantive quality of administrative decisions, and, finally, the legality and constitutionality of administrative decisions. Based on a review of Canadian administrative law over the past two decades, the author warns that there is a danger in a simplistic commitment to one aspect of good governance — the substantive quality of administrative decisions — at the expense of the others.