A visiting Yukon Supreme Court judge has upheld former Liberal Renewable Resources minister Dale Eftoda's 2002 decision to revoke Klaas Heynen's former hunting concession.

For 30 years, Heynen operated an outfitting concession in the Whitehorse area. He owned Kusawa Outfitters.

Judge Harvey Groberman spent more than an hour this morning delivering the decision after two days of arguments in the judicial review.

Heynen's outfitting concession was revoked by Eftoda in 2002 after Heynen was convicted of a number of charges under the Wildlife Act.

His outfitting certificate had been suspended in 1999, when he was facing those and other charges which ended up being stayed or which he was acquitted of.

Heynen sought that the order revoking the concession be quashed by the judge on the grounds the minister failed to consider all the factors, that it was unreasonable punishment given the convictions for his other offences, and that there was bias.

The territory's lawyer, Penelope Gawn, argued the minister had been within his rights to revoke the concession without compensation under the Wildlife Act.

This morning, Groberman found that under the Wildlife Act in place at the time, a minister can revoke a concession without compensation when there have been certain convictions under the legislation.

When the minister considers that part of the act, he can't take into account the public interest as he could in other cases where there would be compensation.

'The minister's focus has to be on serious convictions under the Wildlife Act,' Groberman said.

The minister must also be free to consider circumstances around the case, including whether the offender has shown remorse, past offences and the level of co-operation, among other factors, the judge added.

The revocation of a concession for such offences is designed to serve as a deterrent and denunciation of not following the regulations and therefore it has an economic impact.

The minister is not, however, required to search out minute details unless the offender brings them forward, the judge said.

In this case, Heynen should have brought those details forward, Groberman said.

There was also no doubt either though that Heynen was entitled to a fair process, the judge ruled.

A letter was sent to Heynen noting the concession could be revoked and giving the reasons.

Groberman stated the government should have given Heynen longer than the week allotted to respond to the concerns. However, he also pointed out Heynen made no effort to have that time limit extended, so there was no procedural unfairness, as Heynen's lawyer, Terry Robertson, had argued.

There was a breach of procedural fairness on the government's part though by not disclosing concerns which came forward in a memorandum that was part of the record in the case, the judge said.

The memorandum argued that the concession should be revoked and detailed things like an investigation into bear baiting, but failed to note Heynen was not convicted of the allegation.

Despite the breach, Groberman found that Eftoda did not err in what he considered in deciding to revoke the concession.

He also found he could not quash Eftoda's 2002 order because of the 'inexcusable delays' on Heynen's part in bringing the matter to court.

Other court matters and negotiations with the Yukon Party, elected to government in 2002, kept Heynen from seeking the judicial review until 2004, it was argued in court.

A new minister would not have discretion to reverse the decision, Groberman stated. He stressed the importance of judicial reviews for public decisions being done in an open process rather than through negotiations and confidential reports.

There's also a general philosophy that such matters of judicial review be dealt with quickly.

Even excluding negotiations with the government, Groberman ruled, while stressing the lawyers arguing the case over the two days were not to blame, there were further unnecessary delays in filing the statement of claim and other court documents.

Outside the courtroom following the ruling, Heynen's local lawyer, Grant Macdonald, said his client wouldn't be commenting.

The Yukon Outfitters Association could not be reached for comment.