Judicial Review: Proposals for Reform

We are implementing our Manifesto commitment to “ensure that Judicial Review is available to protect the rights of the individual against an overbearing state, while ensuring that it is not abused to conduct politics by another means or to create needless delays.” The Independent Review of Administrative Law conducted by a panel of experts (the Panel) chaired by Lord Faulks QC was the first step. They have delivered a well-researched and closely argued Report which reflects the diversity of views on Judicial Review. I am very grateful to Lord Faulks and his colleagues for an impressive piece of work undertaken to a tight timetable. The Panel’s analysis identified a growing tendency for the courts in Judicial Review cases to edge away from a strictly supervisory jurisdiction, becoming more willing to review the merits of the decisions themselves, instead of the way in which those decisions were made. The reasoning of decision makers has been replaced, in es