Dear spurr-ga
In the United Kingdom there are a number of bodies such as local
authorities, Departments of State and regulatory bodies which make
decisions which affect both individuals and businesses. These
decisions should be within the law and the bodies should act in a fair
and reasonable manner. Once they have made a decision sometimes there
is no mechanism to appeal their decision, or they refuse permission to
appeal.
A judicial review is a process whereby their actions can be
challenged, reviewed and their legality tested. The judicial review
hearing is held in the High Court or the Scottish Court of Sessions.
The court will not decide the merits of the decision, only its
lawfulness, and the court can ask the body to reconsider the matter.
Here are some examples:
British pensioners overseas won the right to a judicial review to
challenge the government's policy over "frozen" pensions. Under the
rules, pensioners in countries abroad did not get their pensions
up-rated in line with increases in Britain. This was argued to be
contrary to the Human Rights Act.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1617822.stm
Bromley Council taken to the High Court over a controversial Crystal
Palace development. The applicant was granted a judicial review of the
council's decision to grant planning permission for a £58 million
cinema and leisure complex. The applicant argued that an environmental
impact assessment should have been carried out before the decision was
made.
http://www.crystal.dircon.co.uk/diane_barker.htm
Camelot applied for a Judicial Review when the Lottery Commission
decided to negotiate the lottery licence solely with Sir Richard
Branson's People's Lottery.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lottery/story/0,7369,360754,00.html
Immigration and Asylum issue where the Secretary of State is said to
have made a decision based on wrong information about the applicants
status.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Refugees_in_Britain/Story/0,2763,779715,00.html
The first stage of the judicial review process is to seek the
permission of the High Court to proceed with the judicial review. Both
parties have an opportunity to present an outline of their case and
the judge will decide whether there is sufficient merit to proceed.
The decision can be appealed. If permission is granted, a date is set
for a full hearing.
A fuller explanation of the procedure can be found at the Lord
Chancellors Department. This is an extract below:
“1 Judicial review allows people with a sufficient interest in a
decision or action by a public body to ask a judge to review the
lawfulness of:
an enactment; or
a decision, action or failure to act in relation to the exercise of
a public function.(2)
2 Judicial review may be used where there is no right of appeal or
where all avenues of appeal have been exhausted.
3 Where alternative procedures have not been used the judge may
refuse to hear the judicial review case. However, his or her decision
will depend upon the circumstances of the case and the nature of the
alternative remedy. Where an alternative remedy does exist a claimant
should give careful consideration as to whether it is appropriate to
his or her problem before making a claim for judicial review.
4 Judicial review may not be appropriate in every instance. “
http://www.lcd.gov.uk/civil/procrules_fin/contents/protocols/prot_jrv.htm
This site carries a more detailed explanation as to why a judicial
review has been applied for in the case of Professional Contractors
Group .
“Professional Contractors Group is seeking the permission of the High
Court to proceed with a judicial review against the UK Government
relating to the introduction and implementation of IR35 - the
so-called 'stealth tax' which affects small independent businesses,
mainly in the IT and engineering sector.”
http://www.pcg.org.uk/judicialreview/jr_background_briefing.html
I hope I have clarified it for you. Please do ask for clarification of
this research, or if the links do not work, before rating the answer.
answerfinder-ga
Search strategy
"judicial review" won
://www.google.com/search?q=%22judicial+review%22+won&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&start=0&sa=N
"judicial review" glossary uk
://www.google.com/search?q=%22judicial+review%22+glossary+uk&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&start=0&sa=N |
