Case information

Administrative law — Prisons — Duty to disclose — Transfer of federal inmate from minimum security institution to medium security institution on emergency and involuntary basis — Whether lower courts erred — Whether application for leave to appeal raises question of public importance.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

The applicant, Mr. Lill, is serving a life sentence after being convicted in 2007 of first degree murder. He was detained in a minimum security institution. In 2020, he lost eligibility for the escorted temporary absence program. He became less cooperative, and he was transferred to a medium security institution.

Mr. Lill challenged the involuntary transfer and the increase to his security classification. He then filed habeas corpus applications with the Quebec Superior Court and took administrative steps for corrections to be made to the report that led to his transfer. In the face of denials, Mr. Lill filed grievances with Correctional Service Canada. The Assistant Commissioner rejected most of Mr. Lill’s arguments. Mr. Lill filed an application for judicial review of that decision.

The Federal Court applied the standard of reasonableness and dismissed the application for judicial review. It noted a breach of procedure by the Assistant Commissioner. However, since these measures were challenged through a habeas corpus application in other proceedings, redetermination of the grievance would serve no practical purpose. The Federal Court of Appeal was not satisfied that the Federal Court had committed a palpable and overriding error or an extricable error of law warranting its intervention. It dismissed the appeal.