Judicial Review

Ouster clauses are provisions in legislation that seek to prevent judicial review of the exercise of public power. Since they insulate government action from being reviewed by the courts, ouster clauses reveal the tension between the principles of … [Read more...] about Ouster Clauses: Is There a Way Forward?

Judicial overreach, the concept that courts have exceeded their constitutional power to interpret and develop common law and strayed into political decision making or policy development, has long haunted both academic and political writing on … [Read more...] about How to Measure Judicial Overreach Systemically

In 1948, the grounds for allowing judicial review of government decisions developed significantly with the Wednesbury case. Since then, this area of review has continued to evolve, with executive decisions increasingly being subjected to rationality … [Read more...] about Proportionality and reasoning in judicial review

Judicial review is the process by which the courts review the legality of public authority decision making. In order to bring a judicial review challenge, an applicant must demonstrate that they have ‘standing’. This means that they must show that … [Read more...] about Get Your Foot in the Door: Standing in Judicial Review

Although the international norm, the courts’ power of judicial review has long been a source of political frustration, dissension and tense debate in Britain. This became particularly acute first during the dispute over Brexit in 2016-19, and more … [Read more...] about The demise of the NIMBYs, or inconsequential reform?

A policy is not a law. Instead, it operates as guidance as to how the discretion of a public authority will be exercised. But is it possible, as a matter of law, for the courts to hold a government to the word of a policy it has made where that … [Read more...] about Can the Courts Hold the Government to the Word of a Policy?

Kemi Badenoch has been elected leader of the Conservative Party to renew its thinking.  The rationale of her ‘Renewal2030’ campaign is that once the Party can unite around common values again, it can begin the task of winning back the trust … [Read more...] about New Look Conservatives and Constitutional Policy

In a recent working paper, the Hansard Society has laid out its preliminary proposals for an overhaul of the parliamentary Statutory Instrument (SI) procedure. The proposals would see all SIs laid in draft and sifted by a Parliamentary … [Read more...] about What could proposals to reform SI procedure in Parliament mean for the courts?