Justice Secretary hits out at "inappropriate" use of judicial review

Society is “too legalistic” and the legal system is being “exploited inappropriately by pressure groups with a political point to make”, the Justice Secretary has claimed.

Writing in the Telegraph, Chris Grayling also attacked “a minority of lawyers” who he said were making money out of creating opportunities to attack government, Parliament and the decisions they made.

The Justice Secretary added that the legal system was being used to “try to stop the difficult decisions we are taking to secure a better future for our country as part of our long-term economic plan”.

Grayling acknowledged the importance of the rule of law. “It’s proper that people should have the right to go to court to right an injustice, to challenge individual decisions taken by public organisations that will do real damage to their lives.”

But he claimed that taking legal action via judicial review had become “a must-use tool for pressure group lobbyists”.

“Rushing to court can serve as a delaying tactic,” the Justice Secretary argued. “It can serve as a public relations tool to get more media coverage. It can even bring crucial projects to a juddering halt on a technicality.”

He continued: “I’ve seen lawyers launching legal action on a technicality to try to delay a change to legal fees that will bring down insurance costs for motorists, purely to try to stave off the day when their businesses would have to adapt.

“We’ve had court cases brought to delay important infrastructure projects that will create jobs and wealth for Britain – even companies seeking to undermine each other’s businesses by taking legal action over planning decisions.”

Grayling also claimed that some law firms and pressure groups made “a healthy living by finding more and more varied ways to challenge government in court – and getting you to pay the bill”.

He said the Government would push ahead with proposals that would stop recent legal actions such as the case brought by Iraqis over the actions of British troops.

Legal aid will be limited to those who are resident in the UK, and have been for at least a year, he added, although some exceptions would be made such as for refugees fleeing persecution.

The Justice Secretary added: “We’re also pressing ahead with changes to judicial review, making it more difficult to pursue cases on a technicality, to speed up cases involving important investment projects and to make sure that those people and organisations who use the system inappropriately pay the bill – not you.”

Grayling concluded: “My role as Lord Chancellor involves being a defender of the independence of our legal system and our judiciary, and it is a responsibility I take enormously seriously. The rule of law in Britain is vital to us all.

“But I also regard it as my role to ensure that where our legal system is going wrong, we take the right steps to change things. And that is precisely what we are now doing.”

The Justice Secretary’s article was published two days before the Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013 came into force. Amongst other changes, these insert a new regulation providing that where an application for judicial review is issued, the Lord Chancellor must not pay for the making of that application unless either permission to proceed is given by the court, or permission is neither given nor refused and the Lord Chancellor considers that it is reasonable to pay remuneration.