Employing civil servants

Civil servants are employed by the Crown, excluding those who are employed by Parliament and other public bodies. Therefore while there are close to six million public sector employees in the UK, only about 500,000 of these are civil servants. See Office for National Statistics: Public sector employment, UK Statistical bulletins.

The Civil Service is an integral and key part of the government of the UK. It supports the government of the day in developing and implementing its policies, and in delivering public services. Civil servants are accountable to ministers, who in turn are accountable to Parliament.

Servants of the Crown are treated in common law as a separate category of employee, ie traditionally they were regarded as not having a contract of service and, in terms of constitutional theory, can be dismissed at will. However, case law has established that civil servants do have contractual rights (R v Lord Chancellor’s Department, ex parte Nangle). Section 191 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 extends statutory protection to civil servants, and section 205 of the Equality

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Public Law case law quarterly—Q2 2025

The Public Law case law quarterly provides details and analysis of notable judgments collated by the Lexis+® UK Public Law team each quarter. Highlights in this edition include analysis of the Supreme Court’s decision in For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers, which confirmed that ‘sex’ under the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex. This edition also looks at Supreme Court decisions on the Special Immigration Appeals Commission’s role in national security appeals, anonymity and freedom of expression in the context of litigation involving NHS Trusts, and statutory interpretation and procedure in a case concerning rights of the public under the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985. Also in this edition, the European Court of Human Rights decision in Green v United Kingdom, which examined the margin of appreciation in the context of parliamentary privilege. Court of Appeal decisions highlighted in this edition concern recognition of non-binary gender under the Gender Recognition Act 2004, DOLs orders and Article 5 ECHR, Article 14 ECHR challenges to employment legislation, regulatory compliance in planning decisions, and amendments to the Public Order Act 1986. Further analysis considers legitimate expectation from oral statements, extensions of time in judicial review, recusal applications in cases of possible judicial bias, challenges to the removal of VAT exemptions for private school fees, applications to lift the automatic suspension in public procurement challenges, and the consequences of misusing AI in court proceedings.

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