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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.

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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

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Associated legal terms

Section 5

Section 5

In legal practice, “section 5” refers generically to the fifth numbered provision within a specific Act, regulation or other legislative instrument. It has no fixed, standalone legal meaning across UK or Irish law; its effect depends entirely on the statute in which it appears.

For this reason, legal professionals must always read “section 5” with the full citation of the relevant legislation (for example, section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980, section 5 of the Defamation Act 2013, section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986, or section 5 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 (Ireland)).

Numbering is internal to each Act, so “section 5” in one statute will usually deal with entirely different subject matter from “section 5” in another. The same principle applies across England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, although the underlying Acts and section contents may differ between jurisdictions.

In drafting, interpretation and litigation, precise reference to the correct section 5 (including jurisdiction, year and title of the Act) is essential to avoid ambiguity and ensure accurate statutory interpretation and citation.

Welfare work rules

Welfare work rules

In employment and social security practice, “welfare work rules” generally refers to job‑seeking, work‑related or conditionality requirements that a claimant must meet to receive, maintain or increase welfare or benefit entitlements. It is a descriptive term rather than a defined statutory expression in the UK or Ireland, but corresponds to detailed rules set out in legislation, regulations and guidance.

In England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the concept is most closely associated with work‑related requirements under the Universal Credit and legacy benefit regimes (for example, requirements to take “reasonable steps” to obtain work, attend interviews, undertake training, or accept suitable employment), breach of which may trigger sanctions.

In Ireland, similar ideas appear in the activation and conditionality framework for Jobseeker’s Benefit, Jobseeker’s Allowance and related payments, usually expressed in terms of availability for, and genuine seeking of, work and compliance with activation measures.

For legal practitioners, welfare work rules are significant in advising on entitlement, sanctions, appeals and judicial review challenges, including issues of proportionality, reasonableness, equality, disability accommodation and procedural fairness across the relevant benefits schemes.

Writ of prohibition

A writ of prohibition is a court order stopping a lower court, tribunal or public body from continuing proceedings because it is acting outside, or in excess, of its lawful jurisdiction. In modern practice across England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, this remedy survives as a form of judicial review, usually called an order of prohibition rather than a traditional “writ”.

It is typically sought where a decision‑maker proposes to hear a case it has no power to determine, applies the wrong legal test so fundamentally as to exceed its powers, or ignores mandatory procedural requirements. It is generally prospective, restraining further steps rather than quashing a decision already made (for which certiorari/quashing orders are used), though the remedies may overlap.

The principles are largely case‑law based, reflecting the historic supervisory jurisdiction of the higher courts (High Court; Court of Session in Scotland). In Scotland, prohibition is part of the Court of Session’s nobile officium and judicial review jurisdiction, serving a similar function of preventing unlawful excess of jurisdiction.

Practitioners use prohibition to protect clients from ultra vires regulatory or disciplinary proceedings, criminal prosecutions before the wrong court, and other unlawful exercises of public power.
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