CHANGES IN JUDICIAL REVIEW: AN OUTSIDER'S REFLECTIONS
| Author | ROGER ERRERA |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1986.tb00615.x |
| Date | 01 June 1986 |
| Published date | 01 June 1986 |
CHANGES
IN
JUDICIAL REVIE
:
AN
OUTSIDER'S
REFLECTIONS
ROGER ERRERA
Public Administration
has asked me to comment on the articles discussing recent
developments in judicial review contained in this special issue. This is a most
generous invitation, for which
I
would like to thank the editors, in particular
Professor Michael Lee. This is a daunting task too. Before
1
attempt it,
I
wish to
say that the following are the comments of an outside and foreign observer who
had recently the opportunity to study the English legal system.
I propose to consider the questions raised in three parts; firstly, the manner in
which the recent reforms have been introduced and their likely consequences;
secondly, the practical effects of judicial review on the administration; and thirdly,
the cultural, social and political factors that influence the shape and role of
administrative law.
I
My first comment
is
on the way the reforms of the last fifteen years or
so
have
been introduced into the law and on their likely consequences.
It is clear from the articles that these reforms have resulted from a combination,
at an opportune moment, of several elements: the recommendations of the Law
Commission; the reform of the
RSG
in 1977 and in 1980; the case-law of the courts
and finally changes both in judicial procedure and in the membership of the higher
judiciary. Parliament was involved very late indeed (1981) and did no more
than approve and follow rather than lead. One commentator has expressed his
doubts on its degree of awareness of what was in fact involved (McBride, 1983).
Another one spoke, with a mixture
of
admiration and of regret, of 'administrative
stealth and of 'significant law reform by judicial manipulation' (Blom-Cooper,
1982).
Is
there a lesson to be drawn here?
What seemed at first
to
be a reform
of
procedure involved in fact problems
of jurisdiction and of substantive law.
A
French lawyer is indeed extremely
Roger Errera is a Conseiller dEtat, Paris, and was Visiting Professor of French Law at University
College, London, 1983-84.
Public Administration Vol. 64 Summer 1986 (189-195)
0
1986 Royal Institute of Public Administration
ISSN
0033-3298
$3.00
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