Judicial Review is a central control mechanism of administrative law by which the judiciary discharge the constitutional responsibility of protecting against abuses of power by public authorities.

An application for permission for the judicial review of an administrative or judicial decision must be made within a period three months from the date of decision and in any case as quickly as possible. This statutory time limit is designed to protect parties who might otherwise be prejudiced by the delayed quashing of a decision affecting their interests where an application for permission is made out of time.

For the judicial review of a planning decision, this strict deadline will in many cases equate to a narrow period of just six weeks in which to follow the pre-action protocol pre-claim process and to prepare an application to the High Court. This process would usually involve filing the judicial review claim form N461 together with the grounds for judicial review, a statement of facts, written evidence, and a bundle of the relevant case-law and legislation.

It is therefore essential for clients not to delay and seek expert legal advice as soon as possible if one is considering, or threatened by, the possibility of an imminent judicial review action. Call or email now for further legal advice.