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 government has published a communiqué from an in-person meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Group for Housing, Communities and Local Government held...
The Home Office has published updated documentation regarding notifications made under Part Three of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) between...
The Cabinet Office has published an update to its guide to making legislation, which sets out the procedures for preparing primary legislation and...
The Public Law case law quarterly provides details and analysis of notable judgments collated by the Lexis+® UK Public Law team each quarter....
In HM Attorney General for England and Wales v British Broadcasting Corp; R (on the application of ‘Beth’) v The Investigatory Powers Tribunal [2025]...
Latest Public Law Practice Notes
Court of Justice State aid national references—ongoing cases trackerThe table below lists national references to the Court of Justice concerning the...
Infrastructure projects—procurementInfrastructure procurement is the method by which the delivery of a facility is organised. This Practice Note...
Civil contingencies and emergency powersThe Civil Contingencies Act 2004The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA 2004) provides the primary framework for...
Grounds of judicial review—breach of legitimate expectationThe ground of challenge based on legitimate expectations is designed to hold a public...
Concession contracts procurement—before 18 April 2016 [Archived]ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained.This Practice...
Latest Public Law Precedents
Intellectual property licence—pro-licenseeThis Agreement is made on [insert date]Parties1[insert name], a company incorporated in [England and Wales]...
Improving efficiency—Voice of the Customer (VOC)—worked example for in-house lawyersThis Precedent provides a worked example of Precedent: Improving...
1 Definitions and interpretation 1.1 In this Agreement [unless the context otherwise requires]: Business...
Freedom of information—letter acknowledging request for information [Archived]ARCHIVED: This Precedent has been archived and is not...
Withholding taxes Assignor-friendly—gross-up clause 1 Any sum payable under this [agreement] shall be paid free and clear of...
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
Levy determination
The bill delivered by the Pension Protection Fund for levy payable by a fund; it is in practice hard to challenge, though successful challenges are not unknown but are rare. The system seems to work according to some form of rough justice, and gaming of the system is essential for well-run funds.
Request for information (RFI)
A request by one party to a contract (generally, the contractor) to another party (typically, a consultant) for information in relation to a matter arising in connection with the contract—generally to clarify a technical matter in a contract document or for information that was incomplete when the contract was executed.
Right to Rent
Every landlord must check that tenants can legally rent residential property. Landlords must check a tenant’s original acceptable documents (eg passport) allowing them to live in the UK, must keep the copy documents on file and record the date of the check. Copies of the documents must be kept for the time of the tenancy and one year after.
CONTACT US
