Standards of Appeal and Review in the High Court and CAT

The Competition Appeal Tribunal is a creature of statute, established by the Enterprise Act 2002, section 12 and Schedule 2.  Its appellate and review jurisdictions over certain regulatory decisions are created and defined by legislation.  The High Court, on the other hand, is a Court of inherent jurisdiction.  Section 31 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 provides that an application for mandatory, prohibiting or quashing orders, declarations and injunctions may be made to the High Court, but the circumstances in which the Court will grant relief, and the kind of review it is prepared to conduct, are matters for the Court’s own inherent jurisdiction, governed by rules of precedent .