REPORT ON JUDICIAL REVIEW PROCEDURE (LRC 71 - 2004) IRELAND The Law Reform Commission 35-39 Shelbourne Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 © Copyright The Law Reform Commission 2004 First Published February 2004 ISSN 1393 - 3132 ii An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, TD. Office of the Taoiseach Government Buildings Upper Merrion Street Dublin 2 12 February 2004 Dear Taoiseach I enclose a copy of the Commission’s Report on Judicial Review Procedure (LRC 71 – 2004) which will be published in the near future. Yours sincerely, _____________________ Declan Budd President iii iv THE LAW REFORM COMMISSION Background The Law Reform Commission is an independent statutory body whose main aim is to keep the law under review and to make practical proposals for its reform. It was established on 20 October 1975, pursuant to section 3 of the Law Reform Commission Act 1975. The Commission’s Second Programme for Law Reform, prepared in consultation with the Attorney General, was approved by the Government and copies were laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas in December 2000. The Commission also works on matters which are referred to it on occasion by the Attorney General under the terms of the Act. To date the Commission has published 69 Reports containing proposals for reform of the law; 11 Working Papers; 28 Consultation Papers; a number of specialised Papers for limited circulation; An Examination of the Law of Bail; and 24 Annual Reports in accordance with section 6 of the 1975 Act. A full list of its publications is contained in Appendix E to this Report. Membership The Law Reform Commission consists of a President, one full-time Commissioner and three part-time Commissioners. The Commissioners at present are: President The Hon Mr Justice Declan Budd High Court Commissioners Patricia T Rickard-Clarke Solicitor Dr Hilary A Delany, Barrister-at-Law Senior Lecturer in Law, Head of Law School, Trinity College Dublin v Professor Finbarr McAuley Jean Monnet Professor of European Criminal Justice, University College Dublin Marian Shanley Solicitor Secretary John Quirke Research Staff Director of Research Raymond Byrne BCL, LLM, Barrister-at-Law Legal Researchers Deirdre Ahern LLB, LLM (Cantab), Solicitor Simon Barr LLB (Hons), BSc Patricia Brazil LLB, Barrister-at-Law Ronan Flanagan LLB, LLM (Cantab) Glen Gibbons BA, LLB (NUI), LLM (Cantab) Claire Hamilton LLB (Ling Franc), MLitt, Barrister-at-Law Darren Lehane BCL, LLM (NUI) Trevor Redmond LLB, LLM (Cantab) Eadaoin Rock LLB, LLM (Cantab) Jennifer Schweppe BCL (Euro) Administration Staff Project Manager Pearse Rayel Legal Information Marina Greer BA, H Dip LIS Manager Cataloguer Eithne Boland BA (Hons) H Dip Ed, H Dip LIS vi Executive Officer Denis McKenna Private Secretary Liam Dargan to the President Clerical Officers Alan Bonny Debbie Murray Principal Legal Researcher on this Report Ronan Flanagan LLB, LLM (Cantab) Contact Details Further information can be obtained from: The Secretary The Law Reform Commission 35-39 Shelbourne Road Ballsbridge Dublin 4 Telephone (01) 637 7600 Fax No (01) 637 7601 Email [email protected] Website www.lawreform.ie vii viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Prior to the publication of the Consultation Paper on Judicial Review Procedure in 2003 the Commission established an expert working group to assist and advise it on the aspects of judicial review procedure to be addressed in the Paper. The Commission would like once again to thank the members of the Working Group for the expertise and experience they brought to this project. Members of the Working Group: Sean Barton, McCann FitzGerald Marcus Beresford, A&L Goodbody Conleth Bradley, Barrister-at-Law The Hon Mr Justice Declan Budd Nuala Butler SC David Clarke, McCann FitzGerald Commissioner Hilary Delany Sarah Farrell, Barrister-at-Law Finola Flanagan, Director General, Office of the Attorney General Paul Gallagher SC Professor David Gwynn Morgan Gerard Hogan SC The Hon Mr Justice Peter Kelly Claire Loftus, Chief Prosecution Solicitor Liz Mullan, Chief State Solicitor’s Office Kerida Naidoo, Barrister-at-Law Donal O’Donnell SC Commissioner Patricia T Rickard-Clarke Commissioner Marian Shanley Robert Sheehan, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions Garrett Simons, Barrister-at-Law Marie Torrens, Barrister-at-Law Seamus Woulfe, Barrister-at-Law ix The Commission would particularly like to thank those who sent in written submissions on the Consultation Paper, namely Noeline Blackwell, Kevin Costello, Áine Ryall, Garrett Simons and Rory Williams. A word of thanks also goes to others who assisted the Commission during the writing of this Report, including all those who attended the seminar on judicial review procedure held at the Commission in July 2003, the Courts Service, the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, the Repatriation Unit at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the members of the judiciary who helped us with various queries. A particular debt of gratitude is owed to Professor David Gwynn Morgan whose insightful advice has, as always, proved invaluable. Full responsibility for this publication, however, lies with the Commission. x Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .....................................................................................IX INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1 LEAVE STAGE ...........................................................................3 A Introduction........................................................................................................3 B Should the Leave Stage be Retained? ...............................................................4 (1) Consultation Paper Recommendation.......................................................4 (2) Arguments For and Against ......................................................................4 (3) Report Recommendation.........................................................................10 C What Level of Notice Should be Given at the Leave Stage? .........................10 (1) Consultation Paper Recommendation.....................................................10 (2) Arguments................................................................................................10 (3) Report Recommendation.........................................................................13 D What is the Appropriate Standard to be Applied at the Leave Stage? ...........14 (1) Consultation Paper Recommendation.....................................................14 (2) Arguments................................................................................................14 (3) Report Recommendation.........................................................................20 E Alternative Remedies ......................................................................................20 (1) Consultation Paper Recommendations ...................................................20 (2) The Present Position................................................................................21 (3) Report Recommendation.........................................................................22 F Amendments to the Grant of Leave ................................................................22 (1) Consultation Paper Recommendations ...................................................22 (2) The Present Position................................................................................23 (3) Report Recommendation.........................................................................25 G Applications to Set Aside an Order Granting Leave ......................................25 (1) Consultation Paper Recommendation.....................................................25 (2) The Present Position................................................................................25 (3) Report Recommendation.........................................................................28 H Appeal Against Refusal to Grant Leave .........................................................28 (1) Consultation Paper Recommendation.....................................................28 (2) Time Limits .............................................................................................28 (3) Obtaining Leave to Appeal......................................................................29 (4) Report Recommendation.........................................................................33 CHAPTER 2 TIME LIMITS............................................................................35 A Introduction......................................................................................................35 B Conventional Judicial Review.........................................................................35 (1) Consultation Paper Recommendation.....................................................35 (2) Extension of Time ...................................................................................36 (3) Prejudice ..................................................................................................38 (4) Report Recommendation.........................................................................43 C Statutory Judicial Review................................................................................43 (1) Consultation Paper Recommendation.....................................................43 (2) The Present Position................................................................................44 xi (3) Report Recommendation.........................................................................49