Published: 28th November 2013 PLP’s submission addresses many of the proposals, including those on standing, costs, third party interventions, procedural defects, oral hearings, Protective Costs Orders and wasted costs orders. Read the full submission here. From our submission: ‘The Government’s proposals represent a politically motivated and cynical attack on access to justice. The reforms proposed will have the effect of making it more difficult and more expensive to challenge unlawful actions of public bodies. Their effect, indeed their intended effect, will be to insulate executive action from judicial scrutiny, thus weakening the rule of law. The impact assessments make no effort to distinguish between meritorious and unmeritorious claims – the intention is simply to reduce the number of challenges to Government. The constitutional significance of the proposed reforms is clear but unacknowledged.’ The full submission is here: