Davies, R (on the application of) v Parole Board

Where an applicant no longer wishes to pursue an application for permission to appeal, and release has made the proposed judicial-review challenge entirely academic, the court may refuse the application without examining its merits.

The applicant sought permission to appeal against an order of Maurice Kay LJ dated 4 February 2000, which had refused permission to apply for judicial review of the Parole Board’s decision that he was unsuitable for early release. By the hearing before the Court of Appeal, he had been released from imprisonment and no longer wished to pursue the application. The proposed challenge was therefore entirely academic.

1. Disposition. The application for permission to appeal was refused unanimously. Lord Justice Simon Brown gave the judgment, and Lord Justices Tuckey and Mance agreed.
2. Mr Davies no longer wished to pursue the application. The court considered that unsurprising because he had long since been released from his term of imprisonment.
3. In those circumstances, any challenge to the Parole Board’s decision would have been entirely academic. The court therefore declined to say more about the proposed judicial review and refused the application.

1. Court of Appeal (Civil Division). On 21 March 2001, the application for permission to appeal was refused unanimously.
2. Queen’s Bench Division. On 4 February 2000, Maurice Kay LJ refused permission to apply for judicial review of the Parole Board’s decision of 4 August 1999.