Transparency in Public Procurement

The Court of Appeal has ruled that the Unified Contract for Civil Legal Aid is in breach of EU public procurement law because it gives the Legal Services Commission too wide a power to amend its terms. The judgment raises important points about whether unilateral variation powers in public sector contracts violate the principle of transparency. Read on

Delays in the Administrative Court: justice denied?

The judicial review procedure set out in Part 54 of the CPR is intended to offer claimants a quick and efficient way of challenging the exercise of public power. At the same time, the speedy resolution of such claims is intended to ensure that public bodies are not prejudiced in their ability to carry out their statutory duties. However, over the past 18 months or so, delays in the consideration of claims by the Administrative Court have meant that parties to judicial review proceedings are being denied those benefits and are at risk of being denied justice. Read on

Al-Jedda v SSD: Who is Responsible for British Troops Abroad?

The legal consequences of the war in Iraq have been many and varied. Not until R (Al-Jedda) v Secretary of State for Defence [2007] UKHL 58, however, has the House of Lords had to grapple with the issue of whether the actions of British troops operating as part of a Multi-National Force in Iraq are attributable to our Government or to the United Nations. Read on

Case Note:

The Court of Appeal has given judgment in the case of R (Bradley) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2008] EWCA Civ 36. The Court has upheld the decision of Mr Justice Bean in the High Court that the Secretary of State was irrational to reject the findings of the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The Ombudsman had found that the Department for Work and Pensions was guilty of maladministration when it misled members of occupational pension schemes into believing that their pensions were safe even if schemes wound up or the employers became insolvent, and that the scheme members suffered injustice as a result. Up to 125,000 people had lost all or part of their pensions when various occupational pensions schemes wound up. Dinah Rose QC and Tom Hickman appeared for the claimants.

Case Update: R (Brooke and Others) v Parole Board [2008] EWCA Civ 29

The Court of Appeal has upheld the decision of the High Court (see Public Law Focus November 2007) that the Parole Board, which makes decisions whether to release prisoners on licence and after recall from licence, does not satisfy the requirement of objective independence from the Executive or the parties before it. Michael Fordham QC, Gemma White and Ben Jaffey appeared for the Parole Board. Mark Vinall acted for the Secretary of State.

Regulation Conference

Blackstone Chambers will be presenting a one day Regulation Conference on 14th March 2008. The conference, which is now fully booked, will look at the relationship between regulators and those they regulate. The speakers will include Tom Beazley QC, David Pannick QC, Charles Flint QC and Dinah Rose QC, as well as leading figures from regulators and regulated sectors.

New Silks

Chambers is delighted to announce that three of its members, James Eadie, Robert Howe and Pushpinder Saini, have been appointed Queen’s Counsel in the new silk appointments announced on 22nd January 2008.