Recent weeks have seen a number of notable developments concerning new or proposed legislation which could have a wide-ranging impact on aspects of public and administrative law. In particular: The Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 has recently received Royal Assent and introduces, amongst other things, changes to remedies in judicial review. The Queen’s Speech, … Read more

In R (Gardner and Harris) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and others [2022] EWHC 967 (Admin) the Divisional Court has found that arrangements by the Department of Health for discharging patients from hospitals to care homes during the pandemic were unlawful. Key points Article 2 of the European Convention on Human … Read more

In R (on the application of Friends of the Earth Limited) v Secretary of State for International Trade/Export Credits Guarantee Department [2022] EWHC 568 (Admin), the court refused to quash a decision to provide export finance in support of a natural gas project in Mozambique. Key points The nature and scope of the enquiry that … Read more

In R (Good Law Project and Runnymede Trust) v Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Health & Social Care [2022] EWHC 298 (Admin) the High Court granted a declaration that the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care did not comply with the public sector equality duty (“PSED“) in relation to the decisions … Read more

The High Court has clarified that complaints of unfair consultation relating to the introduction of primary legislation cannot found a ground of challenge by way of judicial review (R (on the application of A) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 360). Key points The principles on which the law of Parliamentary … Read more

The main window for response to the Government’s consultation paper on the reform of the Human Rights Act 1998 (“HRA“) has now closed. The consultation paper proposed an overhaul of the existing human rights regime in the UK by replacing the HRA with a new Bill of Rights. The proposals involved giving greater legislative guidance … Read more

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal by the Environment Agency (“EA”) and set aside a declaration made by the High Court which had required the EA to take certain actions in order to comply with positive obligations under Articles 2 (the right to life) and 8 (the right to private life) of the … Read more

In R (on the application of Cox) v Oil and Gas Authority [2022] EWHC 75 (Admin) the High Court has dismissed a judicial review challenge to a decision of the Oil and Gas Authority (“OGA“), in doing so emphasising that it will afford considerable deference to a regulator’s expert view and that there may not … Read more