PM unveils clampdown on "massive growth industry" of judicial review
The Government has announced plans for a review of the judicial review process, which the Prime Minister claimed had become “a massive growth industry in Britain today”.
The Lord Chancellor, Chris Grayling, also argued that the process had “expanded far beyond what was originally intended”.
In a written ministerial statement, Grayling said the options to be considered would include:
- shortening time limits in certain cases;
- restricting the opportunities for an oral reconsideration of the application for permission in certain circumstances; and
- introducing new fees.
The Lord Chancellor said: “The purpose of this is not to deny or restrict access to justice, but to provide for a more balanced and practicable approach, ensuring that weak, frivolous and unmeritorious cases are identified early, and that legitimate claims are brought quickly and efficiently to a resolution.
“In this way, we can ensure that the right balance is struck between reducing the burdens on public services, and protecting access to justice and the rule of law.”
Grayling accepted that judicial review was a critical means of holding the executive to account, ensuring that decisions were lawful.
But he added that there had been huge growth in its use. The Lord Chancellor highlighted how in 1975 there were 160 applications for judicial review. In 1998 there were 4,500 applications and last year there were around 11,000.
“In 2011, for every application for permission to bring a judicial review that was granted, five were refused (a higher proportion was refused in immigration and asylum cases),” Grayling said. “In those cases where permission was granted, an even smaller proportion was successful.”
The Lord Chancellor attributed much of the growth in judicial review applications to immigration and asylum cases, but said it was also being used as a means of challenging other types of decisions such as in planning matters, in large infrastructure projects, in procurement exercises “and in other key reform programmes”.
Grayling said: “The Government is concerned about the burdens that this growth has placed on stretched public services. This can lead to unnecessary costs and lengthy delays, and may in some cases stifle innovation and frustrate much needed reforms, including those aimed at stimulating growth and promoting economic recovery.”
Speaking at the CBI conference today, the Prime Minister described judicial review as “a massive growth industry ”.
David Cameron said: “Back in 1998 there were four and a half thousand applications for review and that number almost tripled in a decade. Of course some are well-founded as we saw with the West Coast mainline decision. But let’s face it: so many are completely pointless.”
The Prime Minister added: “Last year, an application was around five times more likely to be refused than granted. We urgently needed to get a grip on this.
“So here’s what we’re going to do. Reduce the time limit when people can bring cases. Charge more for reviews so people think twice about time-wasting. And instead of giving hopeless cases up to four bites of the cherry to appeal a decision, we will halve that to two.”
Philip Hoult
