How the courts supervise the lawfulness of public decision-making — the mechanism that keeps ministers, agencies and other public bodies within the powers the law has given them.
A judicial review claim stands or falls on a series of hurdles, and each has its own rules. This chapter begins with what judicial review is, its constitutional foundation and which decisions are amenable to it, before turning to the obstacles a claimant must clear: ouster clauses, standing, strict time limits, and the pre-action protocol and permission stage. The heart of the chapter is the grounds of challenge — illegality in its several forms, irrationality, procedural impropriety, and the demands of fairness, the rule against bias and legitimate expectation — alongside the distinct grounds arising under the Human Rights Act, from proportionality to declarations of incompatibility. It closes with the remedies available, from quashing, prohibiting and mandatory orders to interim injunctions and the limited place of damages.
