please tell me about a judicial review?

[1dilemma]

that's it really
what is it? how much does it cost? how do I get one? How do I avoid paying the other sides costs?

Thanks

A judicial review is when you take the government to court so the court can say they have screwed up and they were wrong, ie, if the policy behind something is wrong/if they were unreasonable in coming to a decision (if they didn't apply law when coming to a decision about a planning application or something like this). It's not expensive IIRC, more time consuming. It used to be about £40 but it may have increased by now. You don't get alot out of it, sometimes nothing. It's basically the courts telling the government off. You don't normally have to pay the other sides costs unless they think that the claim is being done out of vengence or just to be a PITA. You collect the forms from the crown/county court (what ever is near you) and fill them in. IIRC, you are not there for the judicial review, all they do is look at whether the law has been applied and whether the decison was unreasonable. It does take ages though. It's been along time since I've done this so I may be rusty in places. Feel free to CAT me with some details if you wish and I'll harass my old lecturer who's a top bloke that specialises in this for you. He won't mind, he loves people that do this, he encouraged all of us to do a judicial review as he doesn't like governments!

Does this help?

Here is a very useful guide to judicial review. The N461 claim forms are here. You do need legal advice.

Thanks guys really helpful. I will read through the N461 claim forms later!

I'm also very worried about having to pay the other sides costs

I may CAT later

babyb thanks I had been warned it was an issue 'tis a shame and possibly slightly unfair!

Any general guidelines as to who gets costs awarded against them?

The basic rule is that you have to pay the other side's costs if you lose as well as your own costs. You may be able to get insurance which will cover this, and I don't think it applies if you can get what used to be legal aid and I think now is LSC funding. I assume you're challenging a local authority or something, in which case their costs are likely to be around £10k.

You have to get permission from the court to bring the judicial review so if they think your claim is hopeless it tends to get stopped early without too many costs being incurred.

You can now download the forms from the court service website but it would definitely be worth getting some help with filling them in.

Also there is a 3 month maximum time limit and an obligation to act promptly so you would generally need to notify whoever you are challenging within 6-8 weeks. The CAB should be able to help.

thanks interesting about the being stopped early!

Yes it is LA I'm sure they'd try their best to rack up more than 10k!!

I will be going to the ombudsman which I also have 13 weeks for do you know whether I will have 26 weeks then or will it be 13 for the two?

I think it would be 13 weeks for both. you would have to challenge the ombudsman's decision to get 26 weeks.

I would suggest getting to CAB because they do a lot of this and writing a letter to your LA saying 1) facts of your case 2) why you think they got it wrong either in law or in their procedure 3) what you want them to do about it and 4) when.

This will help keep everybody's costs down as well and follows best practice.

Permission to hear a judicial review is usually decided on the papers, but you may need to think about instructing a barrister if you get permission and get to a full hearing. You might also want a good solicitor or barrister to look over your case. If you don't mind me asking, what sort of thing is it? there are various barrister pro-bono organisations who might be able to help.