Ahmed, R (on the application of) v Kent County Council

Judicial review relief is discretionary. Where the claimant is absent, apparently no longer within the jurisdiction, and unable to benefit from the orders sought, the court may refuse relief without determining the merits exhaustively. This applies even where the alleged case is taken at its highest. A refusal to grant relief in those circumstances does not prejudice a future claim if the claimant returns and falls within the statutory conditions governing assessment, accommodation or support.

The claimant sought judicial review of an alleged continuing failure by Kent County Council to assess his needs under section 47 of the NHS and Community Care Act 1990 and to provide accommodation and support under section 21 of the National Assistance Act 1948. He also sought interim and final mandatory orders, declarations, and relief under Article 3 of the Convention.

Permission had been granted by Sullivan J on 13 November 2006. By the hearing, the claimant’s solicitors had been unable to obtain instructions and understood that he had left the country. Neither party attended. The central issue was whether any useful or appropriate relief should be granted in those circumstances.

1. The claim was dealt with by reference to the relief sought. All the remedies claimed were discretionary.

2. An interim mandatory order would serve no useful purpose for a claimant who was absent and no longer apparently in the country. The same circumstances provided no practical basis for ordering a lawful assessment.

3. Declarations would be beside the point where the claimant was not present to benefit from them. No other relief was appropriate.

4. The court therefore refused relief without exhaustively determining the merits. This conclusion would have been the same even if the claim had been considered on its merits at its highest and the claimant’s allegations had been accepted.

5. The absence of an order did not prejudice any future proper claim. If the claimant returned in a condition bringing him within section 21 of the National Assistance Act 1948 and section 47 of the NHS and Community Care Act 1990, those statutory provisions would apply.

Permission for judicial review was granted by Sullivan J on 13 November 2006. No appeal history was stated.