98. (1) Commissioner's Directives - The Commissioner may designate as Commissioner's Directives any or all rules made under section 97.

      (2) Accessibility - The Commissioner's Directives shall be accessible to offenders, staff members and the public.

[CROSS REFERENCE - "COMMISSIONER'S DIRECTIVES" IN PLACEMENT AND TRANSFER OF INMATES SECTION ]

R v. Beaver Creek Correctional Camp (Institutional Head) ex p. MacCaud - (1969), 1 C.C.C. 371, 2 D.L.R. (3d) 545, 5 C.R.N.S. 317 (Ont.C.A.)

- The power to make Regulations was granted, pursuant to section 29(1) of the Penitentiary Act, to the Governor in Council and was denied to the Commissioner whose rule-making power was restricted to the making of rules known as Commissioner's directives. Such directives did not confer statutory rights on an inmate affected by them in the way that a Regulation made by the Governor in Council would, and must be considered to be merely part of the administrative process for which the Commissioner was responsible. The duty of a staff member, including the institutional head, to adhere to the Commissioner's directives was a duty owed to the staff member's superior and not to an inmate. Non-observance of a directive did not affect the otherwise proper exercise of authority by an institutional head.

Kelly v. Canada (Solicitor General) - (1992), 51 F.T.R. 319, [1992] F.C.J. No.138 (F.C.T.D.)

- The court dismissed an application of an inmate who sought an order of mandamus against the CSC to command them to get on with the promulgation of a new, reformed and revised Commissioner's Directive that may have granted him an opportunity to participate in a family visiting program. The court was of the opinion that there was no evidence before it of circumstances giving rise to a lawful duty upon the CSC to produce within a specific timeframe a new CD. Nor was there any evidence of the CSC being bloody-minded, obtuse, obstreperous, malicious or lax in any duty owed to the inmate.

Crawshaw v. Canada (Deputy Commissioner of Corrections) - (1996), 125 F.T.R. 247, [1996] F.C.J. No.1553 (F.C.T.D.)

- A CD does not have the "force of law," that is to say, a limitation that is prescribed in a CD is not "prescribed by law." The court recognized that the authority cited for the proposition that CDs are not "law" predates the enactment of the CCRA and more particularly sections 97 and 98 of that Act. However, the court was not satisfied that sections 97 and 98 of the CCRA in any way modify the status of CDs for the purpose of section 1 of the Charter.

Hunter v. Canada (Commissioner of Corrections) - (1997), 9 C.R. (5th) 120, 134 F.T.R. 81, [1997] 3 F.C. 936, [1997] F.C.J. No.959 (F.C.T.D.) [affirmed 163 D.L.R. (4th) 383 (F.C.A.)]

- The specific provisions of a Commissioner's Directive granting the CSC the ability to restrict inmate calls to pre-authorized lists and providing voice-over measures were within the ambit of the discretion given by subsection 71(1) of the CCRA in conjunction with its corresponding provisions in the Regulations, and sections 97 and 98 of the Act. Arbitrariness was not evident in the manner in which the limits were prescribed. There was no disruption in the chain of statutory authority flowing from the Act and the Regulations to the limits within the specific CD in question. The limits within the CD were "prescribed by law."

Miller v. Canada - [1999] F.C.J. No.477 (F.C.T.D.), 1999 CanLII 7943 (F.C.)

- Commissioner's Directives are rules made by the Commissioner under section 97 of the CCRA, that have been designated as directives under section 98. These rules are for the management of the Service and generally for carrying out the purposes and provisions of the Act and Regulations. The Directives must be made available to the public, staff, and inmates.