Judicial Review is an essential process of Administrative Law. Judicial Review is where an applicant (or Claimant) asks the Administrative Court (a division of the High Court) to rule on the legality or reasonableness of a decision by a public body. Judicial Review is a distinctive feature of English law and rarely seen in other jurisdictions. Applications for Judicial Review are, in a round about way, another form of “appeal”, but these types of applications are not usually limited to errors in law but can sometimes be based on errors on the part of the administrative agency or the public body on findings of fact.
A feature of judicial review is that it reviews the process of the decision making and not the decision itself. For this reason it is not really an appeal. Although where a successful application for Judicial Review has been made, the results can often mimic a successful appeal. Any decision of any public authority or person acting in a capacity for a public authority can be subject to an application seeking Judicial Review. Even Government minister’s decisions can, and often are, judicially reviewed. One area of law where applications for Judicial Review are quite common is in immigration and asylum law. Often where asylum applicants have exhausted all other avenues of appeal and are facing imminent removal from the UK, the only course of action open to them will be an application by way of Judicial Review.
Judicial Review applications are by no means easy and they do require specialist legal advice and assistance. Judicial Review is a specialist area of the law and it is important that only cases where there are good prospects of success are progressed forward by way of an application seeking a Judicial Review of a decision. As Judicial Review falls within the remit of civil proceedings, there are costs consequences for parties who fail to convince the court of the strengths of their cases. In other words, often in Judicial Review matters, the court will Order the losing party to pay some or all of the successful parties legal costs. This is not always a major concern in asylum and immigration matters, but where applications seeking a Judicial Review of a decision by some other Government agency are sought, the costs consequences can be huge.
One very important consideration in Judicial Review is that any application seeking a Judicial Review of a decision by a Public Body must be filed at the Administrative Court within 3 months of the date of that decision. The deadline for filing applications is quite rigid and only in the most exceptional circumstances will the courts allow a potential Claimant to derrogate from those strict deadlines.
In some cases Legal Aid can also be made available for potential Judicial Review applicants. Legal Aid in Judicial Review is provided only by a select number of law firms that have been approved by the Legal Services Commission of meeting the stringent requirements of speciality in this very specialised area of the law. At Mansouri & Son Solicitors we have the specialism and experience to deal with any type of Judicial Review application and we regularly file applications at the Administrative Court on behalf of our clients seeking leave to aply for Judicial Review of decisions made by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) including immigration decisions, asylum decisions and decisions involving deportation or Removal Directions. In addition where your case has merit and you qualify, we can offer you Legal Aid for Judicial Review proceedings.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your immigration or asylum status or indeed any other matter relating to a decision by a Public Body or administrative agency, call one of our specialist solicitors in strict confidence now on 020 8401 7352 for an assessment of your circumstances. We provide free advice in Judicial Review matters and will always do everything possible to help you and guide you.
