Timing is everything—finding of undue delay emphasises extreme urgency may be required in commencing judicial review proceedings

Article summary

Public Law analysis: In R (on the application of British Gas Trading Ltd) v Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, the High Court refused permission for judicial review where challenges to decisions made by the Secretary of State (SoS) regarding the transfer of the business of Bulb Energy to Octopus Energy were brought within a matter of weeks. The Divisional Court found there had been undue delay in bringing the applications for judicial review, but in any event would have dismissed the challenges, which were based on public law principles and on alleged non-compliance with the Subsidy Control Principles, on their substance. In this article, Andrew Lidbetter, Nusrat Zar, Jasveer Randhawa and James Wood of Herbert Smith Freehills LLP discuss what this case demonstrates about the importance of strict time limits in judicial review proceedings and the ‘light touch’ standard of review in this commercial context.