Where modules run over two terms as a 30 credit module, SIL students will attend and be assessed on the contents of term 1. Please note that some modules reflect this with an additional "A" in their module code, but this is not the case for all of them due to special assessment arrangements for SIL students.
All assessments are graded on a pass/fail basis.
Assessment method for LLM students: 3-hour unseen written examination
Assessment method for SIL students: 3.000 word coursework essay
Module Overview
Module summary
Adopting England and Wales as its ‘home’ jurisdiction, this module focuses on judicial review broadly defined. It thus looks not only at the common law but also at particular aspects of European Union Law and (in the language of the Human Rights Act 1998) of ‘Convention Rights’. The module further considers the interplay (or not) of these different sources of jurisdiction.
The module naturally involves careful consideration of the constitutional role of the judiciary, a familiar topic of debate in many jurisdictions. Attention is paid both to the broad historical dynamics and to cutting-edge developments in the case law. As well as to UK lawyers, the module should be of interest to students from many other jurisdictions both around the common law ‘globe’ and elsewhere. The possibility of writing a dissertation associated with the module (see below) offers excellent opportunities for comparative study.
Module syllabus
PART I: SETTING THE SCENE – A MULTI-STREAMED JURISDICTION
1. Introduction and definition
2. Functions of judicial review: ‘a multi-streamed jurisdiction’
3. Common law perspective - ultra vires and the challenge of ‘common law constitutionalism’
4. The EU connection
5. ‘Convention rights’ - Strasbourg and the domestic courts
6. Organisational and procedural development: statistical look
PART II: GROUNDS OF REVIEW - VARIABLE INTENSITY
7. Procedural review – adjudicative-style constraints
8. Procedural review and Article 6 ECHR
9. Procedural review – ‘a duty to consult’?
10. Legitimate Expectation – bucking the rules
11. Substantive review (I) – issues of methodology
12. Substantive review (II) – unreasonableness and proportionality
13. Justiciability and deference
PART III: JUDICIAL REVIEW – ALTERNATIVES, PROCESSES, EFFECTS
14. Regulating access (or not): standing and intervention, disclosure
15. Judicial review, tribunals and ombudsmen
16. The impact of judicial review on administration
PART IV: CASE STUDIES AND COMPARISONS
17. Judicial review of resource allocation decisions
18. Judicial review and national security
19. German administrative law & proportionality
20. American administrative law & regulatory ossification
Recommended materials
You will need to buy:
P. Craig, Administrative Law, 6th edn, Sweet & Maxwell, 2008 and
C. Harlow and R. Rawlings, Law and Administration, 3rd edn, Cambridge UP, 2009
Seminar handouts and other information (on administrative arrangements etc) will be provided electronically through Moodle (virtual learning environment).
Preliminary reading
Those unfamiliar with judicial review in England and Wales might usefully read P. Cane, Administrative Law, 5th edn, Oxford UP, 2011, Chapters 1 and 2.
Other information:
Each seminar handout provides a detailed set of primary and secondary sources for the topic. Materials marked ** should always be read by way of preparation (they represent the minimum requirement for each seminar).
This module traditionally enjoys a high level of student participation; all members take it in turns to do short presentations etc.
Prizes for this module: There are currently no prizes available for this module.
