High Court: Administrative Court judgments, 2026

A complaint under the police complaints scheme may be made orally. Where the IOPC has already treated an allegation as a complaint and directed that it be…

Court-ordered deadlines must be observed. An opposed application to extend time will not be granted without good reasons; generic explanations are unlikely to…

Under the precautionary approach to nature conservation, a demonstrated risk of deterioration can trigger a duty to take appropriate steps before actual…

A successful party ordinarily recovers its costs, although the court may reduce them for unsuccessful issues where that is reasonable in light of the case as a…

The exercise of a prerogative power is not automatically immune from judicial review. Justiciability depends on the subject matter, the court’s constitutional…

A Divisional Court may hear an outstanding central-funds costs application by transferring still-pending High Court proceedings under CPR r. 3.1(2)(c). For…

This paper determination records a consent outcome, not a contested ruling on the validity of traffic regulation orders. The court quashed an order after the…

When assessing whether development access can be secured by a negatively worded Grampian condition requiring highway works, the practical likelihood of a…

Where a local authority accepts that a consultation defect may have prejudiced a claimant’s ability to assess evidence and make representations, potentially…

An appeal from a professional disciplinary tribunal is by way of review, not rehearing. The intensity of review depends on whether the challenge concerns…

Under section 74 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, a deception as to gender identity is not categorically incapable of vitiating consent. Its effect must be…

Under the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007, a discontinuance notice may be served where the authority is…

Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 uses ordinary English words. Disorderly is neither specially wide nor specially narrow, and whether conduct falls within…

At the permission stage, judicial review of a county court decision requires an arguable want of jurisdiction or a procedural irregularity amounting to denial…

Judicial review claimants must serve a sealed claim form within seven days. An extension requires the claimant to have taken all reasonable steps to comply but…

Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 70C gives a local planning authority a wide discretion to decline to determine an application concerning matters…

A restriction under Section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 must satisfy the statutory threshold and remain proportionate to the Convention rights engaged.…

In sample judicial review claims tried together, costs should reflect each claimant’s individual success and the issues actually litigated. A global percentage…

For registration under the British Nationality Act 1981, section 41A imposes the same mandatory good-character requirement on applications under section 1(4)…

Adult human trafficking requires an action, a coercive means and an exploitative purpose. Exploitation is not confined to forced labour. Forced labour requires…

In judicial review of a neighbourhood plan, the examiner and local planning authority must address the statutory basic conditions and other matters within the…

On an application to set aside a teacher prohibition order, the Secretary of State must consider the professional conduct panel’s recommendation but must make…

For extradition particulars to be legally adequate, an arrest warrant must be read holistically. In a group attack, it is sufficient if it clearly attributes…

In an extradition bail application, the court may refuse conditional bail where there are substantial grounds for believing that the applicant would fail to…

A planning authority must publish a proposed planning obligation before the application is finally disposed of and must respect the statutory purpose of…

An NHS integrated care board’s assessment of a disabled child’s continuing-care package involves evaluative judgments, but it must engage rationally with clear…

Procedural fairness in an asylum decision is context-sensitive. The decision-maker must give a fair opportunity to address the gist of the concerns, but need…

In judicial review of a planning permission, an earlier appeal decision may be a material consideration where a later comparative assessment necessarily agrees…

Under section 19 of the Education Act 1996, a local authority must arrange suitable education only where a child may otherwise receive no suitable education.…

Section 27(2) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 creates a single cause of action. Recovery of transferred money or property and compensation for…

Costs ordinarily follow the event where a claimant succeeds in a fully contested judicial review, but the recoverable proportion may be adjusted for a distinct…

Home Office crime-recording rules governing statistics supplied to the Secretary of State do not determine whether a police force must retain or delete a…

In the sponsorship regime, the so-called mandatory grounds in Annex C1 do not remove the Secretary of State’s residual discretion to impose a lesser sanction.…

On an appeal under Article 38 of the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001, an appellate court must respect a disciplinary panel’s advantage in seeing and hearing…

An appeal against a professional prohibition order under Teachers’ Disciplinary (England) Regulations 2012 proceeds by review, not rehearing. Under Civil…

A First-tier Tribunal order remains binding from the moment it is made, subject to the statutory period for implementation, unless it is actually varied, set…

Under the Education Act 1996, section 19 requires a local authority to arrange suitable education that is reasonably practicable for the child. The question is…

On an appeal under section 40A of the Medical Act 1983, the court reviews whether a tribunal’s relevant decision was wrong or unjust because of a serious…

At the permission stage of judicial review, a claimant must show an arguable ground with a realistic prospect of success. Where Convention rights are relied…

Prison X-ray body-scanner use may be authorised for a defined cohort where intelligence or reasonable suspicion indicates internal concealment, no effective…

In a post-tariff indeterminate sentence case, the Parole Board must hold an oral hearing where fairness requires it in light of the facts and the importance of…

The mandatory duty to issue a revised Community Infrastructure Levy liability notice is not triggered merely because late evidence may show that the original…

In the points-based sponsorship system, the permissive power to cancel leave when a sponsored worker ceases employment does not itself require a rounded…

Under s 7 of Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964, a local authority may reorganise library provision if it reasonably concludes that the resulting service…

A sufficiently clear request to vary the licence conditions of a life-sentenced offender in the community must be referred to the Parole Board, whether made by…

A local authority may convene a child protection conference or make a Child Protection Plan under Children Act 1989, section 47, only after sufficient…

Where interim relief is intended to secure a claimant’s release on a fixed timetable, any necessary alternative accommodation should be secured rather than…

On a statutory referral of a Parole Board release decision, the High Court must decide for itself whether continued confinement remains necessary for public…

In extradition proceedings involving a Council of Europe or European Union state, the presumption that the state will comply with Article 3 ECHR is displaced…

Eligibility for postgraduate student finance under the Education (Postgraduate Master’s Degree Loans) Regulations 2016 depends on ordinary residence read with…

Immigration Rules made under the Immigration Act 1971 are administrative rules, not primary legislation, and mandatory wording does not remove the Secretary of…

Under ss 95–96 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, accommodation is adequate if it meets the statutory minimum required to prevent destitution: a dignified…

Under the Immigration Rules, assessment of ARAP Category 4 Condition 2 must address the employer’s services, their contribution to relevant UK objectives and…

In planning enforcement, the judicial review time limit runs from the decision first giving rise to the grounds unless later correspondence contains a…

In an interim judicial review concerning closed material, the High Court exercises its own inherent Haralambous jurisdiction. It is not bound to reproduce the…

In a challenge under Town and Country Planning Act 1990, s. 288, the court reviews an inspector’s regulation 63 decision on ordinary public-law principles and…

Section 70C of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 gives a local planning authority a broad discretion to decline a later application covering development…

In a Community Infrastructure Levy case arising from permitted development under a general consent, a developer may decide that the zero-charge exception…

The meaning of a distance learning course is determined by statutory text and context, not by guidance, administrative practice or the course’s full-time…

A disclosure order under POCA need not name a particular appropriate officer or confine its powers to a defined class beyond the statutory definition. It is an…

Permission for judicial review requires an arguable ground with a realistic prospect of success which merits full investigation, subject to discretionary bars.…

At the permission stage, a judicial review claim must be arguable with a realistic prospect of success. Statutory duties to arrange health, palliative and…

Under condition 1(iii) of the Immigration Rules Appendix ARAP 3.6, eligibility requires an objective, case-specific and holistic assessment. The decision-maker…

On an application under Article 31(8) of the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001, the court exercises an original jurisdiction and must decide for itself whether…

For a council-tax reduction under the Council Tax (Reductions for Disabilities) Regulations 1992, a qualifying individual must be substantially and permanently…

Under paragraph W(11) of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, timely written notice of prior approval is a true…

A governors’ disciplinary panel deciding whether to reinstate a permanently excluded pupil must make its own decision under regulation 24(3)(a). It must…

At permission stage under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, an inspector may fairly refuse late oral evidence where the appellant supplied no witness…

For a rural-school closure in Wales, the School Organisation Code creates a procedural presumption against closure and requires a strong case. The authority…

For Aarhus costs protection, a judicial review claim falls within Article 9(3) where it alleges that a decision contravenes legislation whose purpose or…

Before a Category A prisoner is downgraded, the decision-maker must have convincing evidence that the risk of reoffending if unlawfully at large has…

Judicial review is not an appeal on the merits. Where Parliament entrusts a technical or ethical regulatory function to a specialist body able to ask probing…

In an extradition appeal, delay does not make surrender unjust or oppressive merely because time has passed. The court must assess the period attributable to…

A public authority must apply its lawful policy according to its objective meaning and purpose, and a person is entitled to have their case considered under it…

A planning decision may rely on conditions and diplomatic obligations despite the limited domestic enforcement available at inviolable diplomatic premises. The…

Paragraphs 115 and 116 of the National Planning Policy Framework must be read together. Paragraph 116 is engaged where highway impacts are treated as the…

Under the objective policy-lawfulness approach, a public policy is unlawful if it directs conduct contrary to law, breaches an applicable duty to give accurate…

A police officer’s statutory power to carry out a strip search under Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 is subject to the statutory same-biological-sex…

For a sponsor-licence revocation under Annex C1(aa) of Part 3 of the Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors, the relevant question is whether…

Under section 508F of the Education Act 1996, a local authority has discretion to determine the form of necessary, free post-16 transport support. That…

On an appeal from a professional disciplinary decision, the court must conduct the full appeal required by the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, r 52.21, but should…

At the appropriate-assessment stage under the Habitats Directive and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, a competent authority may take…

Under the Children Act 1989, judicial review examines the rationality of a local authority’s reasoning rather than substituting the court’s professional…

Under the Children Act 1989, the specific accommodation duty in section 20 takes priority over the general section 17 duty where its criteria are met. A local…

A judicial review challenging temporary accommodation becomes academic when the authority’s housing duty or power to accommodate has moved on to later…

On a statutory appeal from a professional disciplinary decision, the High Court may allow the appeal where the decision was wrong or unjust because of a…

A Court Embargo on a confidential draft judgment is fundamentally different from a Journalism Embargo. A recipient must not disclose the draft, its substance…

In an extradition conviction case, dual criminality is assessed by the conduct specified in the warrant. Where the foreign and domestic offences have different…

Under article 31(12) of the Nursing & Midwifery Order 2001, an interim suspension order should be revoked or varied only if it is wrong. Where a striking-off…

Under the Local Government Act 1972, a local authority must disclose documents meeting the statutory definition of background papers, including material…

When applying the four-year enforcement time limit, a planning authority must identify the relevant building operation and decide, as matters of fact and…

In an application to register a child as a British citizen under the British Nationality Act 1981, compliance with the section 55 welfare duty is substantive…

Under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, a traffic regulation order made under section 32 falls within Part VI of Schedule 9 even if other powers are cited…

A court will rarely reopen its reasoning after judgment has been handed down. A request to change the result before sealing must be clear and procedurally…

An Interim Orders Tribunal need not establish the facts or finally determine fitness to practise before restricting a doctor’s registration. It must assess…

Where a consideration is not prescribed by statute, failure to take it into account is unlawful only if it was so obviously material that omission was…

A statutory body's power to prosecute depends on the statute that creates it. Where that statute expressly grants a prosecution power, the body has no separate…

Where a possible retrial may require an extradited person to leave the prison covered by an existing assurance, the Article 3 risk can be addressed by an…

On an application under article 31(12) of the Health and Care Professions Order 2001, the court must decide whether an interim suspension order was wrong…

A planning policy requiring purpose-built student accommodation to be secured for students by an agreement with a higher education provider does not, without…

Where the NPPF requires a Sequential Test, it must be undertaken before any Exception Test; mitigation cannot be used to bypass that sequence. A failure to…

On a statutory extradition appeal, an arrest warrant must be read as a whole. It need not provide exhaustive particulars, but must give enough information for…

A planning permission may be challenged for mistake of fact where an objectively verifiable factual premise materially influenced the decision, even if it was…

In extradition proceedings under the Extradition Act 2003, systemic or generalised deficiencies in the requesting state’s judiciary satisfy only the first…

In judicial review proceedings, an anonymity order is justified where the claimant’s interest in identity protection outweighs the interest in publication…

Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, the offence of releasing listed gamebirds into the wild does not encompass keeping them as livestock in controlled…

In a statutory appeal, an Appellant’s Notice must identify the decision challenged and include grounds of appeal. If the court office accepts the filed…

Under section 13(1)(b) of the Coroners Act 1988, the question is whether the interests of justice make a further inquest either necessary or desirable. A fresh…

A below-threshold public contract with cross-border interest remains subject to Treaty principles of non-discrimination, equal treatment and transparency. The…

At the permission stage of judicial review, the court asks whether the claim is arguable with a realistic prospect of success and whether any other bar…

For a case stated from a Magistrates’ Court, an application is frivolous only when it is futile, misconceived, hopeless or academic. It cannot be rejected…

In an extradition appeal under the Extradition Act 2003, a general finding that prison conditions in a requesting state comply with Article 3 does not…

Under CPR 19.2(2), a person affected by an order may be added as a party only where doing so has issue-resolution utility: the court must be able to resolve a…

In a judicial review of a refusal to state a case, the claimant must identify a public-law error in the refusal itself. A new statutory argument not advanced…

On judicial review of a refusal to transfer a life prisoner to open conditions, the Secretary of State remains the decision-maker and may disagree with the…

In a statutory planning appeal, interpreting a planning policy is a question of law, while applying it is a matter of planning judgment reviewable only for…

Under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, whether it was reasonable to expect an asylum claim in a safe third state is an assessment for the…

A County Court office has no general discretion to refuse to issue a claim and no general legal duty to provide same-day issue. It may conduct a threshold…

At the paper permission stage of judicial review, permission may be refused where the evidence, even taken at its highest, does not disclose a factual case…

On a statutory appeal under section 40 of the Medical Act 1983, an appeal by way of rehearing is more intensive than review but is not a full retrial. The…

In judicial review of a relocation refusal under an internally adopted policy, a decision-maker may use lawful guidance as the operative means of determining…

A statutory scheme for identifying victims of modern slavery must be robust and effective, though it need not be perfect. Where decisions are made rapidly and…

On a statutory planning appeal, an inspector must give intelligible and adequate reasons on the principal important controversial issues. The requirement is…

Where reasonableness governs judicial review of an adult classification for removal of an unaccompanied child under the UFT, the court applies anxious…

Under section 14 of Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023, the Secretary of State must address whether replacing assimilated law increases the…

A local housing authority may designate an area for selective licensing by reference to established administrative boundaries such as wards, even though…

For special reasons under section 34(1) of Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, an unknowingly spiked drink can make the circumstances legally capable of…

Whether an oral hearing is required for termination of an IPP licence depends on procedural fairness in the circumstances of the individual case. There is no…

A prohibition on re-use of company names under the Insolvency Act 1986, s 216(3), expressly extends to involvement in a non-corporate business trading under a…

Judicial review of a financial ombudsman’s factual decision is not an appeal on the merits. Rationality has two distinct dimensions: process rationality…

For conviction extradition under the Extradition Act 2003, where the requesting state seeks surrender to serve one operative sentence of at least four months…

Fairness in determining a planning application is fact-sensitive. The process is not litigation and need not give applicants and objectors equal opportunities…

In reviewing a general immigration policy decision, the court gives appropriate respect to the decision-maker’s evaluative judgment, particularly where the…

In extradition cases, the public interest carries very great weight. Article 8 can outweigh it only where the impact on family life is exceptionally severe…

On an appeal against an extradition order, the Administrative Court asks whether the district judge was wrong and whether a different answer would have…

Public-law remedies are discretionary. When deciding whether to require a public authority to take a specified step, the court must consider the effect on the…

Housing allocation policies must be followed unless there is a good reason to depart from them, and they should be read practically and flexibly. A…

A negative environmental screening opinion is a preliminary, broad-based judgment, not a full environmental impact assessment. The decision-maker must have…

On an appeal against a professional disciplinary sanction, a tribunal must show that it considered the applicable version of the sanctions guidance and the…

An SPD may supply a material planning consideration, but its guidance is not part of the statutory development plan and does not create a presumption against…

Permission to appeal in an extradition case should be refused where the proposed grounds have no realistic prospect of success. A forum-bar challenge requires…

In sponsor-licence investigations, suspicion is only the start of the process. The Secretary of State must fairly assess the sponsor’s response before revoking…

The statutory costs jurisdiction for criminal proceedings is limited and exceptional. It is not a means of challenging prosecutorial decisions merely because a…

A naturalisation policy may lawfully provide that illegal entry or irregular arrival will normally indicate a failure to satisfy the good-character…

Disbarment for dishonesty is ordinarily required to maintain public confidence, but the principle is not mechanical. The question is whether disbarment is…

Judicial review is generally unavailable where the claim has become academic between the parties. The court may exceptionally hear an academic public-law claim…

A Secretary of State may lawfully reject the Parole Board’s recommendation about transfer to open conditions if the decision is rational and falls within the…

A statutory appeal under section 29 of the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002 is supervisory rather than a rehearing. The…

A prosecutor may owe a qualified common law duty to consider early disclosure before statutory disclosure duties arise, including in extradition cases. Whether…

An ombudsman must identify and apply the correct law, including the true construction of an insurance policy. The ombudsman may depart from the common law when…

A judicial review court should generally decide whether past or proposed public-authority action was lawful, rather than answer a hypothetical question…

After a previous High Court consideration of bail merits, a further application should ordinarily focus on whether there has been a material change in…

The correctness standard of review does not apply automatically whenever a scheme uses the term “child”. The applicable standard depends on the statutory or…

Where a requested person is a fugitive, the passage of time will defeat extradition only in the most exceptional circumstances. Substantial delay alone is…

The Financial Ombudsman Service’s jurisdiction depends on an identifiable act or omission within the applicable time limit in DISP 2.8.2 R. An unfair credit…

A court may control disclosure in proceedings before it even where a related investigative order was made by another court. The court that made the…

When reviewing an extension of pre-charge bail, the magistrates’ task is supervisory and evaluative. They must assess, on the material then available, whether…

In determining an application for development consent where no national policy statement has effect, the Secretary of State must apply the statutory framework…

Section 19(3) of the Care Act 2014 confers a discretionary power to meet apparently urgent care and support needs before a needs assessment, financial…

An appeal from the Valuation Tribunal on a question of law may be heard even when filed outside the four-week period in regulation 43(2) of the 2009…

The discretion under section 70C of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is broad once its statutory conditions are met. It permits a local planning…

In parole referral proceedings, r.77.19(2) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 requires service of the sealed claim form within two days after filing. Service of…

In an extradition case engaging Article 3 of the ECHR, systemic evidence of poor prison conditions does not itself establish that every requested person faces…

In judicial review proceedings concerning an age assessment, permission should be granted where the claimant’s case, taken at its highest, could properly…

Failure of the flood-risk sequential test does not automatically determine a planning application. The decision-maker must place that failure in the overall…

In the statutory review of old mineral permissions, a permission must remain valid and must authorise the relevant minerals development. Listing land under…

For an annexe-related council tax discount, whether a dwelling forms part of a single property is determined by the statutory definition in regulation 3 of the…

On an extradition appeal, the court must decide whether the district judge’s decision was wrong, including whether the overall evaluation materially misweighed…

A specialist tribunal exercising statutory supervision over collective settlements has a wide evaluative judgment in deciding whether distribution arrangements…

A judicial review claim must be determined on the pleaded case and the facts relevant to the challenged decision or measure. It is generally inappropriate to…

Permission for judicial review may be refused where an adequate statutory appeal provides an effective route for resolving the substance of the dispute. That…

A chairman of a statutory inquiry may issue a notice under Inquiries Act 2005, section 21, to a witness resident overseas where the statutory scheme has a…

For the purposes of section 20 of the Extradition Act 2003, deliberate absence requires an unequivocal, knowing and intelligent waiver of the right to attend…

On an application to set aside a Parole Board release decision, the decision maker must ask whether the release direction would not have been given if the new…

An appeal from a professional disciplinary decision is determined by whether the decision was wrong or unjust because of a serious procedural or other…

Under the Parole Board Rules 2019, the rule 12 deeming provisions for service do not apply to the time limit for making a setting-aside application under rule…

In planning decision-making, fairness is assessed by the court in the circumstances of the particular case. A practical question is whether the person…

A local housing authority’s duty under Housing Act 1996, s 193(2), to secure suitable accommodation is immediate, unqualified and non-deferrable. Although the…

An educational body outside the statutory exclusions regime must act fairly and in accordance with natural justice. A decision-maker must investigate…

A magistrates’ court should proceed with an adult defendant’s trial in his absence only after applying the statutory requirements and the governing principles…

A decision to make regulations is irrational where the decision-maker’s understanding of the statutory power materially constrains the options considered and…

Article 3 duties must be analysed by reference to the particular duty, public authority, and its powers and responsibilities. General responsibility as an…

A policy governing immigration examination and detention is unlawful only if it positively authorises unlawful conduct or misdirects officials about the law. A…

Charges for official controls may recover only costs authorised by the domestic charging legislation. Overheads are recoverable only where they are incurred by…

A planning authority assessing whether a mixed use amounts to a material change must identify the character of the established lawful use and compare it with…

A judicial review of a police misconduct panel is concerned with public law error, not with conducting an appeal or rehearing the evidence. Appropriate…

At the permission stage of a judicial review challenging a decision of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the court asks whether there is an arguable ground…

Permission to appeal an extradition order should be refused where the proposed ground is not reasonably arguable. On an appeal under the Extradition Act 2003…

Planning authorities may lawfully reach a different planning judgment from an internal conservation officer or statutory consultee, provided the decision-maker…

A public authority may owe a common-law duty to consult where its repeated and consistent conduct has established an expectation of consultation before…

An appeal against a statutory time limit should be extended only where the failure to appeal in time resulted from circumstances beyond the appellant’s…

Open justice carries a very substantial weight and can be displaced only by a sufficiently countervailing justification. A private hearing, restricted access…

In judicial review, a person is “directly affected” by a claim where the remedy would affect that person without the intervention of an intermediate agency.…

A commons registration authority cannot accept a fresh application under the Commons Registration Act 1965 after the statutory machinery and time limit have…

On an appeal under section 40 of the Medical Act 1983, the court conducts an appellate rehearing and may substitute its own decision, while allowing…

Permission to bring judicial review proceedings requires an arguable public law flaw in the decision-making process. The court must not substitute its own…

A Welsh local authority must meet an adult’s eligible care and support needs in a way that promotes well-being and has regard, so far as reasonably…

A benefits authority may require unredacted bank statements when reviewing entitlement to means-tested Universal Credit, where the information is reasonably…

On an appeal under National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002, the court reviews, rather than rehears, a tribunal’s evaluative…

A court should determine a hypothetical or academic judicial-review issue only where there is a good reason in the public interest. The discretion must be…

The family-association criterion in the Russia sanctions regime is sufficiently accessible and foreseeable to satisfy ECHR legality. Its use is not…

Unfair prejudice requires both prejudice and unfairness, assessed objectively against the company’s constitutional and contractual framework. Exclusion of a…

In a planning statutory review, service on every required defendant and interested party is a condition of invoking the court’s jurisdiction. A party’s…

Planning allocation policies must be interpreted by the court in their planning context and by reference to the development plan read as a whole. An allocation…

A police decision not to investigate an alleged offence is subject to judicial review only in a wholly exceptional case. The discretion is broad, particularly…

In judicial review, the court may extend time where the claimant used an incorrect procedural route but acted within the period applicable to that route, the…

An appeal under section 29 of the Dentists Act 1984 is by way of rehearing, but the appellate court must give the lower tribunal the degree of respect…

At the permission stage, clear admissions may provide sufficient evidence to cancel immigration leave for breach of a work restriction. A decision-maker is not…

A judicial review claim challenging an asylum inadmissibility decision must be brought promptly and, in any event, within three months. Reliance on legal…

Parliamentary privilege bars judicial review where the challenged decision forms part of a House of Commons disciplinary framework closely connected with the…

On a statutory appeal from a valuation tribunal, the High Court may interfere only for an error of law. Case-management decisions attract particular appellate…

A public authority applying a housing-allocation scheme must apply the scheme’s prescribed test and consider all materially relevant evidence. A test requiring…

A temporary stop notice under section 171E of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 may be issued where the local planning authority thinks that there has…

On a disciplinary appeal, the High Court must correct material errors of fact or law and serious procedural irregularity, while remaining cautious about…

A concessionary immigration scheme established under prerogative powers may be closed when the executive considers appropriate. There is no general legal right…

An appeal from a barristers’ disciplinary tribunal is a review, not a rehearing. The appellate court respects findings and evaluative judgments below unless…

A legitimate expectation of consultation requires a representation that is clear, unambiguous and devoid of relevant qualification, understood fairly from the…

The four-year immunity period in section 171B(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 does not extend to a change of use to a house in multiple…

Third-party reporting of an alleged offence does not ordinarily give a person sufficient interest to challenge the police decision, unless the decision…

A certificate of lawful existing use must describe the lawful use with clarity and precision. Information may be incorporated by reference, but the…

The Director of Legal Aid Casework must determine the form of civil legal service actually sought, applying the criteria applicable to that service. The…

A challenge to the procedure selected for a planning appeal must ordinarily be brought promptly by judicial review when that procedural decision is made. It…

A regulator assessing the safety of a Government aerodrome for civil aviation may rely on information, risk assessments and technical material supplied by the…

In a statutory appeal from a medical practitioners tribunal, the appellate court must make its own assessment of whether the sanction is appropriate and…

Judicial review is a remedy of last resort. Where a statutory complaints procedure offers redress conveniently and effectively, permission should ordinarily be…

Proceeding with a criminal trial in an accused’s absence is unlawful where the magistrates act on a material misunderstanding of related judicial review…

Permission for judicial review of a sponsor-licence revocation requires an arguable ground with a realistic prospect of success warranting oral investigation.…

“Governing documents” in Higher Education and Research Act 2017 s 14 means constitutional and governance instruments, not every institutional policy. The…

In statutory review or appeal proceedings governed by a bespoke procedural code, the court must determine whether evidence should be given orally in the…

On an application for permission to pursue a statutory planning review, a consideration is mandatory only where it was irrational for the decision-maker to…

For trafficking, recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt must be undertaken by specified means for the purpose of exploitation. The…

Extensions of time for challenging planning decisions by judicial review are exceptional. A claimant must act with the greatest possible celerity, and…

In a planning challenge concerning late-night opening, a decision-maker must address the relationship between planning control and a parallel licensing regime…

Under Part 2 of the Extradition Act 2003, the court may proceed only on the extradition request certified by the Secretary of State. Further information may…

Where court proceedings engage the open justice principle, that principle remains the starting point. The applicant for anonymity or reporting restrictions…

On a permission application, the threshold is arguability. Qualified Convention rights, including education, religion and private and family life, require a…

An extended civil restraint order requires three claims or applications certified as totally without merit. The court must then exercise a separate discretion…

The quality-of-law requirement under Articles 8, 10 and 11 does not impose a freestanding limit on the breadth of a public authority’s discretion. The question…

Article 8 applies to age-assessment processes because age forms part of personal identity and determines access to rights associated with minority. Public…

Post-permission strike out in judicial review is exceptional. A claim should be struck out for academicity only where a clear-cut reason shows that no live…

On an appeal under section 104 of the Extradition Act 2003, the appellate court must focus on whether the overall outcome was wrong, rather than re-weighing…

For Aarhus costs protection, a judicial review must challenge a decision, act or omission alleged to contravene a provision of national law relating to the…

For the purposes of the environmental impact assessment regime, “dwellinghouse development” means a development of dwelling houses in their ordinary planning…

Mandatory requirements in a code issued under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 may generate public law duties enforceable by judicial…

On an appeal by way of rehearing against a professional disciplinary sanction, the High Court must make its own evaluative assessment of whether the sanction…

A challenge to immigration detention may be arguable where the detention is prolonged, removal is uncertain, procedural delay is alleged, and the detainee has…

A consultation on changes to children’s centre provision is lawful where it occurs while proposals remain open to development, even though budgetary…

Licence conditions restricting an offender’s movement engage the offender’s Article 8 rights. They may nevertheless be justified where necessary and…

A negative Conclusive Grounds decision under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 must be supported by reasons that engage with the material evidence and rationally…

Under section 20 of the Extradition Act 2003, an executing court must ordinarily treat the information in an arrest warrant as decisive where it establishes…

On an appeal under section 289 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the court reviews an inspector’s decision for legal error, not planning merits.…

Under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, “elevated risk” requires an increase above the relevant baseline risk that results from the eligible…

An inquest must focus on determining who the deceased was and how, when and where the death occurred. A coroner may limit findings to the central, potentially…

In a planning statutory review claim, the six-week period for filing and serving the sealed claim form is strict, precise and unqualified. Sending an unsealed…

Whether asylum support may be taken into account when a local authority exercises its power under Children Act 1989, section 24A(5), depends on the particular…

A competent authority considering an abstraction licence must have regard to relevant Habitats Directive requirements and take reasonable steps to inform…

Permission for judicial review of a planning permission should be refused where none of the proposed grounds is arguable. Committee debates may be considered…

A statutory discretion to issue a biometric immigration document must be exercised where the applicable conditions are met, and cannot be abandoned by an…

On an appeal from a professional disciplinary decision, the court may intervene only where the decision was wrong or unjust because of serious procedural or…

A policy which provides free school meals only within the state-funded education system does not, merely by excluding private-school pupils, engage the…

On an appeal under Extradition Act 2003, fresh evidence will justify intervention only where it would have resulted in the extradition judge reaching a…

For interim mandatory relief in a public-law claim, the claimant must ordinarily show a strong prima facie case. Where the interim order would effectively…

For a statutory enquiry notice to be effective, HMRC must establish that written notification of the intention to enquire was given in time to the nominated…

Hotel rooms supplied as initial asylum accommodation are not “dwellings” for Part X of the Housing Act 1985 where they are provided on a temporary…

Regulation 64(2) of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 requires a public authority promoting development and…

At the permission stage of an age-dispute judicial review, the court must ask whether the claimant’s case, taken at its highest, could properly succeed at a…

The jurisdiction to reopen an extradition appeal is exceptional. The applicant must show that reopening is necessary to avoid real injustice, that the…

At the permission stage of a judicial review, the question is whether the proposed grounds have a realistic prospect of success. In a service-closure decision…

For a statutory consultation about a proposed charging scheme, the proposal must remain open to reconsideration. Consultees must have a fair opportunity to…

A costs order under section 19 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 requires more than an unsuccessful prosecution or ordinary unreasonableness. The…

A search and seizure warrant under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 requires objectively reasonable grounds for suspicion, but the threshold does not require…

On an extradition appeal, permission should be granted only where the applicant can show that the district judge ought to have decided a question differently…

Introducing a Bill into the Senedd is an initiating and integral part of Senedd legislative proceedings. The courts cannot superimpose a common law duty to…

On an appeal under the Solicitors Act 1974, the High Court should interfere with a specialist disciplinary tribunal only where its decision is wrong in law…

A planning committee departing from a finely balanced officer recommendation must give intelligible reasons addressing the principal controversial issues.…

On a reference under section 29 of the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002, a failure by a regulator to place relevant evidence…

Where legislation does not prescribe an exhaustive method of service, electronic service may be effective at common law. The serving party must prove receipt.…

A coroner determining suicide must decide, on the balance of probabilities, whether the deceased intentionally performed the fatal act and intended thereby to…

A statutory regulator given a power to control overstocking is not necessarily required to exercise that power whenever overstocking is alleged. The regulator…

On a statutory appeal concerning professional disciplinary findings and sanction, the High Court may draw inferences from established primary facts where it is…

For section 20 of the Extradition Act 2003, the requesting state must prove to the criminal standard that a person convicted in absence deliberately absented…

A regulator that adopts a policy must generally act consistently with it, but judicial review does not require the court to substitute its own view of how the…

On an application to discharge unexplained wealth and interim freezing orders made without notice, the High Court must reconsider the statutory conditions…

For a lawful development certificate under section 191 of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990, the applicant must satisfy both limbs of section 191(2).…

Under the ARAP policy, identifying the United Kingdom’s historical national security objectives is an objective question of past fact. The decision-maker must…

At an interim-relief hearing, the court held that it was seriously arguable that the statutory modern-slavery scheme required a process capable of identifying…

Paragraph 13 of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 1990 permits reconsideration of a final award only where there has been a serious change in the…

Where criminal proceedings are initiated by written charge under section 29(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, they are instituted when the written charge is…

On a statutory appeal from a fitness-to-practise decision, the court asks whether the committee’s decision was wrong or unjust because of a serious procedural…

A detaining authority must establish lawful authority for continued detention. Administrative or pre-release checks do not themselves justify detention after a…

A warrant issued under Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 must be sought under the correct statutory procedure where the material is reasonably expected to…

At the permission stage, a judicial review claim must show an arguable ground with a realistic prospect of success. A challenge directed in substance at the…

A constitutive residence scheme under Article 18.1 of the Withdrawal Agreement requires both qualifying residence and a successful application. Residence…

On an appeal under the Extradition Act 2003, the High Court must decide whether the extradition judge was wrong and, if so, whether discharge was required.…

In case-management decisions involving closed material procedures, the court should pursue a timetable that achieves a prompt and workable resolution while…

A judicial review claim challenging ongoing deportation proceedings is premature where no final deportation decision has been made and an alternative statutory…

In an extradition appeal, delay must be addressed in the Article 8 and statutory proportionality balance, including where the requested person is a fugitive.…

A judicial review claim becomes academic where the impugned decision has been superseded and no longer directly affects the parties’ rights or obligations.…

Whether development is likely to have significant environmental effects is an evidence-based planning judgment. The threshold requires more than a bare…

An appellate court hearing a statutory appeal from a professional disciplinary tribunal must exercise its own judgment, while giving appropriate deference to…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal in extradition proceedings, permission should be refused where the proposed ground has no realistic prospect…

In an extradition arrest-warrant case, the presumption in favour of bail is displaced where there are substantial grounds for believing that the applicant…

An independent review panel must appoint an SEN expert when a parent requests one. If the expert is absent, the panel must inform the family of the right to…

For section 20 of the Extradition Act 2003, deliberate absence may be established by the information contained in a European arrest warrant where it clearly…

An EEA residence card is declaratory. It evidences an existing right of residence but does not create or extend that right beyond the period for which the…

A traffic authority must exercise powers under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the statutory purposes identified by the Act. Raising revenue is not an…

On an appeal under section 27 of the Extradition Act 2003, the court does not conduct a fresh proportionality assessment. It asks whether the extradition judge…

The AF (No. 3) disclosure standard is a binary rule. If it applies, fairness requires disclosure of sufficient information to enable the excluded party to…

In conviction extradition proceedings, bail may be refused where there are substantial grounds for believing that the applicant would fail to surrender…

A lawful planning decision is assessed by reference to the facts and law existing when it was made. A subsequent event cannot retrospectively convert it into…

Interim relief restraining a public authority from publishing a proposed regulatory decision requires more than a serious issue to be tried. Under Human Rights…

A person may be a fugitive even without breaching an express restriction on leaving the requesting state or a crystallised duty to surrender. The question is…

A clear promise by a public authority to try to achieve a person’s departure may create a legitimate expectation that reasonable steps will be taken within a…

Whether conduct is “disorderly” and whether it is “likely” to cause harassment, alarm or distress under Public Order Act 1986, section 5, are separate…

In a challenge under section 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the court reviews legality, not planning merits. Planning policy must be…

In determining whether land forms part of a building’s curtilage, the decision-maker must apply a fact-and-degree assessment. The question is whether the land…

An admissions appeal panel must comply with the mandatory framework in the School Admissions Appeal Code. Its record and decision letter must enable the…

A decision on exceptional case funding is unlawful if the decision-maker applies the statutory tests to a materially misconceived factual basis. The…

Interim relief in judicial review is governed by the ordinary serious-question and balance-of-convenience principles, applied with regard to the public…

A judicial review claim must be determined by reference to the pleaded grounds. Procedural rigour remains necessary where the claimant is unrepresented…

On an appeal against a teacher prohibition order, the court normally conducts a review, unless the interests of justice require a rehearing. A professional…

The slip rule permits correction of an accidental failure to express the court’s intention at the time of promulgation. It does not permit the court or…

Eligibility under ARAP 3.6 requires an individual, not merely the employing programme or institution, to have made a substantive and positive contribution to a…

Food hygiene provisions requiring premises or food to be protected against contamination are preventative. A breach does not require proof that contamination…

Where a strategic development allocation requires comprehensive delivery and proportionate contributions towards necessary infrastructure, the absence of an…

In assessing proportionality under Extradition Act 2003, the court must make a broad judgment confined to the specified statutory factors. The seriousness of…

For judicial review of a Parole Board decision, a material mistake of fact requires an existing factual mistake, an established and objectively verifiable…

A sponsor licence is a privilege, not a right, and the sponsor must comply strictly with the applicable sponsorship guidance. The Secretary of State may act on…

Approval of a deferred prosecution agreement is part of the administration of justice. Open justice therefore applies when deciding whether to name individuals…

Where a public authority invites representations before making an application decision and promises to consider them, procedural fairness ordinarily requires…

In an extradition appeal raising Article 8 ECHR proportionality, delay must be assessed by reference to its particular circumstances. Delay by the issuing…

Section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 may be used to vary a planning condition controlling affordable housing, even where an existing planning…

A police force may require officers and staff to confidentially disclose membership of organisations presenting a risk of actual or perceived conflicts of…

For dual criminality under the Extradition Act 2003, the court applies a conduct test. It asks whether the conduct specified in the warrant would constitute an…

The Public Sector Equality Duty does not impose a free-standing requirement to collect and analyse statistical data. Whether monitoring is required depends on…

In a community-care assessment, a local authority must provide reasoning which follows from the evidence and contains no unexplained evidential gap or logical…

Capital held in a personal injury trust must be disregarded when assessing an adult’s resources under the applicable charging regulations where the statutory…

Fairness does not invariably require advance notice and representations before the Home Secretary exercises the power to proscribe an organisation under Part…

A person is not entitled to a British National (Overseas) passport merely because they were formerly a British Dependent Territories citizen connected with…

The power of the Equality and Human Rights Commission to give guidance about the effect or operation of legislation carries an obligation to state the law…

On an appeal under the Extradition Act 2003, the High Court must decide whether the extradition judge made an error producing a wrong overall evaluation. It is…

An appeal from a professional disciplinary decision is a rehearing and succeeds only if the decision was wrong or unjust because of a serious procedural or…

On an extradition appeal, a high threshold applies to both article 3 of the ECHR and section 91 of the Extradition Act 2003. The court must assess the…

Immigration detention assumes responsibility for the detainee’s welfare and may engage the Article 3 operational duty where there is a real and immediate risk…

Permission to appeal in extradition proceedings depends on whether the proposed ground is reasonably arguable. Where extradition is subject to prison…

Transitional arrangements for applicants granted discretionary leave before a policy change normally preserve the earlier policy through to settlement. Later…

In an extradition appeal under the Extradition Act 2003, the appellate court must decide whether the district judge was wrong, including whether the overall…

An application to vary an account freezing order for reasonable living expenses requires a structured evaluation under Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The court…

A civil proceedings order under Senior Courts Act 1981, section 42 is available where the respondent has instituted vexatious civil proceedings or made…

In judicial review, the time limit runs from the date on which the decision is made, rather than when it is communicated. Delayed notification may nevertheless…

Under section 12A of the Extradition Act 2003, the court asks whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that the competent authorities have not decided…

A claimant may discontinue judicial review proceedings by filing and serving a notice of discontinuance unless an express exception under CPR 38 applies. Where…

Judicial review claims must be brought promptly and within three months unless a good reason justifies an extension. The court considers the seriousness of the…

On an appeal against an extradition order, the appellate court asks whether the district judge’s proportionality decision was wrong, while ordinarily…

For the statutory restriction on disconnection or installation of a pre-payment meter to apply, there must be an amount genuinely in dispute. An asserted…

The public sector equality duty requires a decision-maker to give conscientious and context-sensitive consideration to the statutory equality needs. The…

A maintained special school’s governing body is responsible for determining the times of its sessions. A local authority’s advice and support does not make it…

Planning policy must be interpreted objectively, by reference to its language, context and practical purpose. The meaning of a policy is a legal question, but…

Regulation 30(3)(b) of the Justices of the Peace Act 1949 (Compensation) Regulations 1978 requires a retirement-compensation lump sum to be reduced by the…

A local authority cannot avoid the duty under Children Act 1989, s 20, by describing accommodation as a private family arrangement where it has materially…

For liability for non-domestic rates on an unoccupied hereditament, the owner is ordinarily the person with the immediate legal right to exclusive possession…

On a statutory appeal from a professional disciplinary decision, the court conducts a review rather than a rehearing. It must show appropriate deference to…

For an accusation warrant, the particulars required by Extradition Act 2003 need not match an indictment or identify every act or item of evidence. They must…

When a professional disciplinary appeal succeeds because the original panel failed to address material arguments or give adequate reasons, the court has a wide…

Eligibility rules for targeted childcare support may exclude persons subject to immigration control where the enabling legislation confers sufficiently broad…

A judicial review challenge to an existing policy is premature where a public body is actively reviewing it through consultation and has not yet made the…

Claims combining public-law challenges with statutory discrimination or damages claims should not be treated as academic merely because the challenged decision…

A renewed application for permission to appeal an extradition order should be refused where the lower court reached a permissible conclusion on the evidence…

The principle of legality protects fundamental rights from interference by general or ambiguous statutory language, but it does not convert non-citizens’…

A court may supplement its judgment under its inherent jurisdiction where the consequential declarations are unclear or insufficiently recorded, even if the…

Procedural fairness generally requires the Parole Board to hold an oral hearing where the facts material to risk or release are disputed, significant…

A local authority proposing to close a long-established community service for an identifiable cohort may owe a common-law duty to consult, even where the…

A traffic authority may prohibit a class of vehicles where there is sufficient evidence that the class contributes to highway damage or would impede…

Statutory disciplinary procedures must be exercised within their express limits. Where a power is conferred on a named office-holder, substitution requires a…

An appeal from a professional regulatory panel is by way of rehearing, but appropriate deference must be given to the panel, particularly on factual findings…

A statutory review of a planning decision is concerned with legal error, not a review of the planning merits. The weight given to material considerations and…

Policies regulating service personnel’s communications may restrict expression where the restrictions arise from service law, confidentiality obligations and…

An appeal against a regulatory price-control decision is not a de novo rehearing. The appellate body must assess the challenged decision through the specific…

Domestic courts cannot interpret or enforce unincorporated treaties merely because legislation or executive policy was intended to comply with them. A stated…

For an outline planning application, the statutory requirement is that the submitted plan or plans be sufficient to identify the land to which the application…

A disciplinary tribunal must determine the regulatory allegations actually pleaded. It must construe the relevant communication fairly and objectively…

Judicial review may address an acquiring authority’s general policies and practices when exercising statutory entry powers, where the complaint concerns…

In a process-rationality challenge, the court must rigorously examine the reasoning supporting a decision, particularly where serious interests are affected.…

Statutory deadlines governing education, health and care needs assessments and plans are hard-edged legal duties. Workforce shortages, high demand and…

The Payment Systems Regulator may use a general direction under Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013, section 54, to impose price caps on interchange…

For a conviction warrant under the Extradition Act 2003, the statutory requirement is to provide particulars of the conviction and sentence. The warrant need…

An Article 8 ECHR challenge to extradition will generally succeed only where the impact on family life is exceptionally severe. Whether that threshold is met…

The Legal Ombudsman has a broad discretion to determine complaints by reference to what is fair and reasonable in all the circumstances. Judicial review…

An appeal by way of case stated is confined to questions of law and jurisdiction. The High Court does not rehear the facts or reassess the evidence. An…

A planning permission must be construed as a whole, but the operative grant identifies the development permitted and conditions ordinarily regulate how that…

Under section 319A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the choice between written representations, a hearing and an inquiry is a matter of planning…

A judicial review challenging intensified, sector-focused immigration enforcement requires a sufficiently defined policy or practice. Existing equality impact…

A deferred prosecution agreement must be construed as a statutory instrument of public justice, while applying ordinary contractual construction principles.…

An appeal from a specialist disciplinary tribunal is a review, not a rehearing. The reviewing court engages with the merits but gives appropriate respect to…

Whether Article 6(1) of the ECHR applies depends on the nature of the proceedings, not simply on the seriousness of their consequences or the human rights…

Procedural fairness generally requires an oral hearing before a parole decision where important facts are disputed, risk cannot fairly be assessed on the…

For the purposes of sections 45(1) and 65(1) of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, there is a single purposive test for identifying the owner of an…

An experimental traffic order must identify a genuine experiment and explain its purpose. The statement of reasons must describe the nature of the experiment…

A public authority performing distinct statutory roles under different enactments must apply the regime governing the function it is exercising. A decision…

On an appeal by way of rehearing, the court must decide for itself whether a professional disciplinary panel was wrong or whether a serious procedural or other…