About Public Law
As a government lawyer your clients are experiencing various impacts on policy making from numerous and competing interests such as austerity, efficiency, collective/individual rights, European and devolved/delegated jurisdictions. Your job advising on legislation and risk of challenge through judicial review is increasingly time consuming and complex.
Brexit
With reform of retained EU law high on the agenda, post-Brexit legal changes remains a key issue. Get key information and updates for all practitioners, with practice area specific Brexit content across the modules.
Judicial Review
We outline the key principles and procedural requirements with a clear focus on the public sector perspective. The content focusses primarily on judicial review in the Administrative Court in England and Wales.
Public Procurement
Failure to stick to procedures can have significant legal, financial and practical consequences for a contracting authority. We guide you through various processes, focussing on the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
Expertise on all matters
An essential resource providing guidance & materials on core legal subjects relevant to lawyers in all areas of legal practice, as well as specialist content designed to assist government lawyers in a range of key areas
Topics We Cover
Latest Public Law News
The House of Commons Library has published a briefing on the voting age, following the announcement of plans to reduce the voting age to 16 for all...
The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) has published its 33rd Report of 2024–25, drawing special attention to Statement of Changes in...
The UN Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee has published draft findings concluding that the UK breached Articles 3 and 8 of the Convention during...
The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) has announced that it will scrutinise the draft Human Rights Act 1998 (Remedial) Order 2025. This follows...
The Welsh Government has launched a consultation, seeking views on draft secondary legislation to implement Part 3 of the Social Partnership and...
Latest Public Law Practice Notes
Closed Material ProcedureThis Practice Note considers the closed material procedure (CMP) established under CPR 82 which allows the state to disclose...
Court of Justice State aid national references—ongoing cases trackerThe table below lists national references to the Court of Justice concerning the...
Trade secrets and confidential information—protection and enforcementThis Practice Note sets out the protection available for trade secrets and...
Rescission of a contractThis Practice Note considers the remedy of rescission, summarising when and how a contract may be rescinded (at common law,...
UK subsidy control—ongoing cases trackerBackgroundOn 4 January 2023, the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (SCA 2022) entered into force. For further details...
Latest Public Law Precedents
Prioritising root causesCauseHow much does it contribute to the problem? (0 = not at all, 10 = a lot)How easy is it to fix? (0 = very hard, 10 = very...
Simple check sheetName:Department:Date:[Insert reason for keeping this check sheet, eg Subject of client call]Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4Day 5Total[Insert...
Identifying waste questionnaireOverproductionType of wasteProblem?CommentsHow big is the issue, how often does it happen, who does it affect, what is...
Transposition table (EU legislation) [Archived]EU acquisUnited Kingdom legislation[Insert full title of the EU legislation including reference to the...
Freedom of information—letter informing an applicant that information requested is being withheld because it is personal information...
Latest Public Law Q&As
Featured Public Law content
Sources of constitutional law
Sources of constitutional lawIn briefThe British constitution is unwritten in the sense that it does not derive from a single constitutional text. It...
Methods of statutory interpretation
Methods of statutory interpretation used to resolve disputes about the meaning of legislationIntroduction to statutory interpretationThe aim of...
Convention rights—structure of qualified rights
Convention rights—structure of qualified rightsThe rights preserved under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), as set out in the Human...
Judicial review—time limits and the pre-action protocol
Judicial review—time limits and the pre-action protocolWhen considering whether and how to bring a claim for judicial review, the first step is to...
Grounds of judicial review—unreasonableness
Grounds of judicial review—unreasonablenessThis Practice Note outlines the ground of judicial review usually known as unreasonableness or...
What is fettering of discretion in judicial review? When is it an actionable ground of challenge and what must be established for a challenge to succeed?
Separation of powers—legislative, executive and judiciary
Separation of powers—legislative, executive and judiciarySource of the doctrine of the separation of powersThe origins of the doctrine of the...
Grounds of judicial review—illegality
Grounds of judicial review—illegalityOverview of the illegality groundIllegality is the first of the grounds on judicial review set out by Lord...
What is a public authority?
What is a public authority?There is no single, universal answer to the question whether a particular organisation is treated, in law, as a public...
Grounds of judicial review—procedural impropriety
Grounds of judicial review—procedural improprietyProcedural impropriety as a ground of judicial review‘Procedural impropriety’ is the last of the...
Judicial review—interested parties and interveners
Judicial review—interested parties and intervenersInterested partiesIn the context of judicial review, an interested party is 'any person (other than...
Parliamentary supremacy—implied repeal
Parliamentary supremacy—implied repealEssential to Parliament’s legislative supremacy is the principle that Parliament is not bound by its...
What is the legal basis and effect of revoking UK legislation?
Grounds of judicial review—breach of legitimate expectation
Grounds of judicial review—breach of legitimate expectationThe ground of challenge based on legitimate expectations is designed to hold a public...
Royal Charters
Royal ChartersWhat is a Royal Charter?The term 'Royal Charter' has transformed over time. Originally, a Royal Charter was a procedure by which the...
Costs for judicial review—general principles
Costs for judicial review—general principlesGeneral rule on costs in judicial reviewThe general rule in relation to costs in judicial review, as in...
Judicial review—what it is and when it can be used
Judicial review—what it is and when it can be usedWhat is judicial review?Judicial review is a process by which the courts exercise a supervisory...
Judicial deference and the margin of appreciation
Judicial deference and the margin of appreciationJudicial deference is also known as the principle that 'respect is a central concept in judicial...
Associated legal terms
Adjudication
A method of dispute resolution devised, originally, for use in the construction industry
Best endeavours
The terms 'best endeavours', 'reasonable endeavours' and the variations 'all reasonable endeavours', 'commercially reasonable endeavours' or 'reasonably commercial endeavours' and 'utmost endeavours' are frequently used in drafting commercial agreements and may be the result of considerable negotiation and often represent a compromise.
Significant influence
An associate is defined as ‘an entity over which the investor has significant influence’. This is the power to participate in the financial and operating policy decisions of the joint venture, without having control or joint control of those policies. Significant influence is presumed to exist if the joint venture party holds, either directly or indirectly (eg through subsidiaries) 20% or more of the voting rights in the joint venture, unless this presumption can be rebutted.
CONTACT US
