16 local authorities joined together to challenge the bringing in of the community charge, and of rules giving central government a greater say over management of local finance by local authorities.
Held: Acts which are essentially political are subject to a lesser standard of justification to resist intervention by the courts. These decisions related to a matter of national economic policy, and the court would not intervene outside of ‘the extremes of bad faith, improper motive or manifest absurdity’ and the court should be particularly cautious and reluctant to intervene.
Lord Bridge of Harwich said: ‘The decided cases on this subject establish the principle that the courts will readily imply terms, where necessary, to ensure fairness of procedure for the protection of parties who may suffer a detriment in consequence of administrative action. Clearly, this principle applies to decisions whereby citizens may be affected in their person, their property, or their reputation. The principal equally applies to public bodies or public authorities affected by an administrative decision which are based on their having acted, or which necessarily implies they have acted, unlawfully or discreditably’.
Lord Bridge of Harwich, Lord Brandon of Oakbrook, Lord Oliver of Aylmerton, Lord Goff of Chieveley, Lord Jauncey of Tullichettle
[1990] 3 WLR 898, [1991] 1 AC 521, [1991] UKHL 3
Bailii
Local Government Finance Act 1988
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – AXA General Insurance Ltd and Others v Lord Advocate and Others SC 12-Oct-2011
Standing to Claim under A1P1 ECHR
The appellants had written employers’ liability insurance policies. They appealed against rejection of their challenge to the 2009 Act which provided that asymptomatic pleural plaques, pleural thickening and asbestosis should constitute actionable . .
Cited – Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills SC 25-Feb-2015
Appeal about the distribution of European Structural Funds among the regions of the United Kingdom. It arises out of the complaint of a number of local authorities in Merseyside and South Yorkshire about the way in which it is proposed to distribute . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 14 September 2021; Ref: scu.194048