The Prime Minister shutting down Parliament for five weeks during a time of national crisis. The government failing to meet its own air pollution targets. Falling numbers of rape prosecutions by the Crown Prosecution Service. The removal of safeguards for children in care during the current pandemic.
What these issues have in common is that they have all been the subject of recent legal challenges brought by judicial review against the government, local authorities and other public bodies. Whether the cause is the environment, social welfare, criminal justice, disability rights, civil liberties, healthcare or even parliamentary democracy, judicial review enables us as citizens to challenge the power of the state when we think it is acting unlawfully.
Last week, the government announced that an ‘independent panel’ – chaired by a former Conservative Justice Minister, Lord Faulks QC – will “consider whether the right balance is being struck between the rights of citizens to challenge executive decisions and the need for effective and efficient government”. This follows the Conservatives’ manifesto commitment to set up a Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission to examine constitutional issues concerning the relationship between Parliament, the government and the courts.
