Auteur

Stephanie High

Collaborateur senior

Londres

Auteur

Stephanie High

Collaborateur senior

Londres

21 avril 2021

Disputes Quick Read – 31 de 68 Publications

Disputes Quick Read: Not your prerogative – the Independent Review of Administrative Law reports its recommendations on judicial review

Quick read

The Independent Review of Administrative Law (IRAL) published on 18 March 2021 was partly a political response from the UK government to two Brexit-related Supreme Court decisions: R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union and R (Miller) v The Prime Minister and Cherry v Advocate General for Scotland.

These much-publicised decisions considered the UK triggering Article 50 without an Act of Parliament, and the prorogation of Parliament, respectively – both highly charged issues. Fittingly, the commissioning of the IRAL was itself controversial, with critics accusing the government of being "bent on constitutional destruction".

The IRAL panel was up front about its review being a political hot potato, and was at pains to say it had been afforded neither the resources nor time to complete a comprehensive review of judicial review. Its recommendations are accordingly restrained.

What did the IRAL recommend?

Only two legislative recommendations were made:

Parliament should legislate to amend section 31 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 – which provides the remedies for a judicial review – to reverse the Supreme Court's decision in Ahmed v HM Treasury (No.2) and make it lawful to order a suspended quashing order (that a quashing order will take effect if certain conditions are not met). The Panel felt this would give judges the ability to make orders which provide time and flexibility to public bodies to produce workable solutions, as opposed to the current position, whereby a quashing order or a declaration of nullity must be made immediately.
Parliament should reverse the Supreme Court's decision in R (Cart) v Upper Tribunal; Eba v Advocate General for Scotland, which concerned the scope for judicial review by the High Court (or Court of Session in Scotland) of unappealable decisions of the Upper Tribunal established under the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. The IRAL recommended that decisions by the Upper Tribunal to refuse permission to appeal decisions of the First Tribunal should not be capable of judicial review, particularly having regard to the fact that only 12 of 5502 such applications were successful.

Those amendments aside, the status quo was broadly advocated for. The panel made no recommendations on codification, non-justiciability or the grounds of review.

The Ministry of Justice's consultation

That does not mean change may not be on the horizon. The Ministry of Justice has launched its consultation which closes on 29 April 2021, implementing its Manifesto commitment to ensure judicial review is "not abused to conduct politics or to create needless delays". That consultation builds on the IRAL's recommendations, including some proposed procedural changes (to be taken forward by the Civil Procedure Rule Committee):

removing the requirement for a claim to be issued "promptly" (but retaining the three-month time limit)
providing further guidance on intervenors, and
providing for an extra step – a Reply to be filed within seven days of receipt of the Acknowledgement of Service.

It also considers further reforms, including:

legislating to introduce remedies which are of prospective effect only (and potentially making such remedies mandatory for challenges of Statutory Instruments), and
further procedural reforms (including extending the time limit for bringing a judicial review claim to encourage pre-action resolution and introducing a "track" system for judicial review claims).

We look forward to seeing whether these suggestions are taken forward and will report any significant changes to the process as they arise.

Find out more

To discuss the issues raised in this article in more detail, please reach out to a member of our Disputes & Investigations team.

Services et Groupes Résolution des litiges

Dans cette série

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read - What do practitioners think about making alternative dispute resolution (ADR) compulsory?

8 March 2023

par Elizabeth Montpetit, Stephanie High

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: What are the litigation trends for 2023?

2 March 2023

par Katie Chandler, Emma Allen

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: further guidance on witness statement preparation rules

14 February 2023

par Stephanie High, Kate Hamblin

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: A cautionary tale – settlement agreement (un)wittingly releases all claims for fraud

13 February 2023

par Georgina Jones, Ella Bazini

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: Why the UK should join the Hague Judgments Convention 2019

8 February 2023

par Jessie Prynne

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: extensive information orders granted against crypto exchanges following hack

19 January 2023

par Laurence Lieberman, Georgina Jones

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: A new approach to giving evidence? WhatsApp with that?

3 October 2022

par Gemma Broughall

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: Ethereum Merge - what legal issues arise?

22 September 2022

par Ben Jones, Emma Allen

Cryptoactifs, blockchain et technologie des registres distribués (DLT) et projets Web 3.0

Disputes Quick Read: New obligations on cryptobusinesses to report under the UK sanctions regime

9 August 2022

par Nick Maday, Katie Fry-Paul

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: Disclosure - What information can be redacted?

25 July 2022

par Edward Spencer, Lizzie Hancock

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: what claims exist when a smart contract is breached?

6 July 2022

par Emma Allen

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: New gateway for serving Norwich Pharmacal Orders and Bankers Trust orders out of the jurisdiction

Welcome news for those pursuing fraud claims in the English Courts

28 July 2022

par Emma Allen, Samantha Brendish

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: Disclosure Pilot Scheme – here to stay

21 July 2022

par Edward Spencer

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: Defining the duty - the limits of the responsibility assumed by professionals

27 July 2022

par Stuart Broom

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: Climate change litigation – successful challenge to government's Net Zero Strategy

29 July 2022

par Jessica Thomas, Lucy Waddicor

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 – now in force

17 June 2022

par Stephanie High

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: an important reminder of the duty to disclose electronic documents in native format

13 June 2022

par Edward Spencer, Lizzie Hancock

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: ENRC prevails in claim against former solicitor

26 May 2022

par Emma Allen, David de Ferrars

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: Climate change litigation update – McGaughey v Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited

31 May 2022

par plusieurs auteurs

Résolution des litiges

Don't lose your keys: Bitcoin developers do not have a duty to assist owners in recovering lost cryptocurrency

4 April 2022

par Emma Allen, Samantha Brendish

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: The new witness statement preparation rules – a year on

5 April 2022

par Stephanie High, Laura Singleton

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: ClientEarth v Shell – climate change litigation shifts focus to UK companies

31 March 2022

par plusieurs auteurs

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: High Court rules that failure to provide adequate data security is not a positive act

21 September 2021

par plusieurs auteurs

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: Key changes to the Disclosure Pilot Scheme

13 September 2021

par Edward Spencer

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: Judicial Review and Courts Bill – unpacking the UK government's proposed amendments

6 September 2021

par Stephanie High

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: Will litigants be compelled to participate in alternative dispute resolution?

2 August 2021

par David de Ferrars, Stephanie High

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: Freezing injunctions – maximum custodial sentence imposed for breach

21 July 2021

par Nick Storrs, Georgina Jones

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: The online future of civil justice – the end of the legal profession or the end of legal drudgery?

15 July 2021

par Jessica Thomas

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: Will the courts change forever post-COVID?

26 May 2021

par David de Ferrars

Résolution des litiges

Disputes Quick Read: One Blackfriars administrators cleared of misfeasance

5 May 2021

par Stephen O'Grady

Résolution des litiges