With legal aid for JR under threat , practitioners may want to consider alternatives. Ombudsman decisions themselves are amenable to JR. Representations to the Ombudsman are free , claimants don’t need a lawyer – and in a landscape in which the government appears only to be prepared to fund legal advice for itself , that’s of increasing significance. Although there are some disadvantages to using the Ombudsman , there are also advantages , both are considered in this paper.
Public bodies have in recent years been exhorted to get decisions ‘right first time’. The concept of administrative justice is seen by some scholars as including initial decisions as well as what happens when administrative decisions are challenged. Notwithstanding these developments , the redress of grievances remains central to the concerns of administrative law scholars , and public bodies expend a great deal of time and money handling grievances. It is just about possible to imagine an idealised administrative system in which no errors are ever made by decision-makers and all past , present and future decisions are accepted as correct and legitimate by citizens and business enterprises. In reality , this can never be achieved (except perhaps in well-resourced administrative schemes of limited size and relative simplicity).
The Public Law Project looks at the latest statistics on exceptional funding from the Legal Aid Agency , which show that the scheme is not fit for purpose and does not provide a safeguard for access to justice.
Final Exceptional Funding Website Referral Form
The paper gives an introduction to the value of public law to voluntary sector organisations.
This presentation provides an overview of exceptional funding for inquests.
This presentation considers current issues in environmental and planning judicial reviews.
This talk outlines the most interesting judicial review cases in education in the last 12 months. It addresses the following topics: School transport; GCSE examinations; Eligibility for student funding in higher education; Universities; The Office of the Independent Adjudicator; Costs in judicial review claims in the Upper Tribunal.
This briefing is in response to the proposed changes to legal aid in the government’s Transforming Legal Aid consultation paper.
This paper provides a summary overview of the exceptional funding scheme under the Legal Aid , Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.
This paper focuses on preparation for and representation at the Social Security and Child Support First Tier Tribunal.
This paper provides an overview and analysis of the costs in the First-Tier and Upper Tribunals and their implications.