First, the demise of the distinction between jurisdictional and
non-jurisdictional error of law, along with the eradication in Ridge v Baldwin of the distinction between quasi-judicial and administrative decisions, paved the way for the development of a unified set of principles — of legality, rationality and procedural propriety — of judicial review of administrative action.
Despite Bastarache and LeBel JJ's description
of the distinction between jurisdictional and
non-jurisdictional errors (and the courts approach to determining which category a given
error fell into) as «formalistic» and «artificial» (at [43]-RRB-, the way this distinction has developed in Australian
law in recent decades in fact shares much in common with the standard
of review analysis described in Dunsmuir.