judicial review

[coffeeandcake]

i am being advised to consider a judical review by my Union rep. Does anyone know what the process is? will i have to give evidence and be cross examined?

You will need professional legal help to pursue a judicial review. It is a complex legal process based on legal argument. It is rare that you would have to give evidence or be cross examined as most cases are based on written evidence. I really would not advise tackling this sort of case as a litigant in person. I have seen several people try, but even if they have a strong case and some basic legal knowledge it is painful to watch.

thanks thistledown. my Union rep will be referring it to their solicitor and presumably they will take it from there. i just hated the idea of being cross-examined, but it's reassuring to hear that that probably won't happen.

I am glad that you have legal assistance sorted. I won't explain the whole process as it is pretty complex, and your solicitor will be able to do that for you. The main thing that you need to be aware of at this stage is that proceedings for judicial review must be brought promptly, and in any event within 3 months of the decision you are challenging. Your solicitor will also need time to comply with a pre-action protocol, for which you should allow 21 days or shorter if the case is urgent; this has to be complied with before the end of the 3 month period. So you need to act without delay and go to see a solicitor as soon as possible.

Your legal team will then make an application for permission for judicial review by way of a paper application, and if you are given permission by the court to proceed with the case, there will be one hearing. As I said in my previous post, in almost all cases there is no live evidence at the hearing and it is dealt with by way of legal argument only. You may well have to prepare a witness statement with your solicitors, but it is unlikely that you would have to speak at all at court, and you may not even need to attend if you did not want to.

Good luck with it!

my union rep is aware of the time constraints. the initial decision i am appealing against was made on 11th July, but my appeal was dismissed last week. so i guess the 3 months starts from 11th July?

basically, I am being harassed by someone I work with (for which there is evidence AND police involvement). I asked the organisation to investigate (as per their procedure). they refused and instead excluded me from the premises. (I am not directly employed by them.)

On paper it looks like clear victimisation, and a closing of ranks around 'their' staff, but i know that these things are never straightforward.

thanks so much for your advice. it really helps in an incredibly stressful situation!