Government reveals changes to judicial review system

The Ministry of Justice said that the culture of using “meritless” judicial review applications to hold up development will be “attacked by new controls”.

The changes have been introduces to speed up the court process for people with genuine cases, the Government said.

Other measures include introducing a £215 court fee for anyone seeking a hearing in person after their initial written judicial review application has been turned down; and banning people from seeking a hearing in person if their initial written application has been ruled as totally without merit.

The final changes, which are expected to be in place by the summer, were confirmed following a consultation which ran from December to January.

Justice secretary Chris Grayling said: “Judicial Review should be used by people who have carefully considered whether they have proper grounds to challenge a decision. We are changing the system so it cannot be used anymore as a cheap delaying tactic.”

The changes have been welcomed by the British Property Federation, which has campaigned for reform of the judicial review system.

Liz Peace, BPF chief executive, said: “Access to justice is a vital ingredient of the rule of law in this country, but if the process can be sensibly expedited, this should be welcomed.
“Planning cases make up a very small number of the total judicial review cases, but by speeding up the process it would deliver significant benefits in terms of enabling development to take place more quickly, by reducing investors’ costs and the risks that discourage investment.”