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Under review

25 February 2016
Issue: 7688 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice
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Is the Wednesbury principle consigned to history? Alec Samuels reports

Is the Wednesbury principle, Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd v Wednesbury Corporation [1948] 1 KB 223, [1947] 2 All ER, CA, consigned to the dustbin of history? If not, what exactly does it mean today? Is the European principle of proportionality, derived from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), part of English law, and, if so, what exactly does it mean? The contemporary answers are to be found in R (Keyu) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs [2015] UKSC 69, [2015] 3 WLR 1665.

The short answer is that the action or decision of a public body may still be challenged by way of judicial review on the basis of common law irrationality and on the basis of the European principle of lack of proportionality.

The latest authoritative re-statement of the irrationality rule is to be found in the judgment of Lord Neuberger para 127, Lord Hughes and Lord Mance agreeing: “An executive decision can

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
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