A judge over every shoulder

• The latest edition of The Judge Over Your Shoulder, issued by the Treasury Solicitor on 28 July 2022, is a useful, concise and practical guide to administrative law decision-making.

On 28 July 2022, Treasury Solicitor and permanent secretary of the Government Legal Department Susanna McGibbon published ‘A guide to the legal environment in which decisions in public bodies are made’. On the front cover in large white capitals is the acronym JOYS. For (joyful or not) the title of this ‘lay person’s guide to administrative law’ is The Judge Over Your Shoulder (the JOYS Guide). As the introduction indicates, the JOYS Guide ‘is highly regarded across the legal profession and remains an important resource for civil servants advising Ministers and supporting government decision making’. It will clearly also be very useful for all public bodies and those advising them. Although a ‘lay person’s guide’, the guide will nevertheless