Administrative Court Blog
@admincourtblog.bsky.social
Case notes and commentary on administrative law decisions in the UK, by @finishedloading.bsky.social, @lewisgrahamlaw.bsky.social, @anuragdeb.bsky.social, and @samuelwillis.bsky.social http://administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
First appellate reversal of “no substantial difference” finding administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/f...
First appellate reversal of “no substantial difference” finding
The Court of Appeal has handed a significant judgment in, from what I can tell, the first appellate decision overturning a first instance finding that the s.31(2A) SCA 1981 “no substantial differen…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:45 PM
First appellate reversal of “no substantial difference” finding administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/f...
The Supreme Court, Discrimination and Maximal Deference administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/11/20/t...
The Supreme Court, Discrimination and Maximal Deference
This may seem a harsh decision but… the risk of undue interference by the courts in the sphere of political choices made by the legislature in the welfare context can only be avoided if the courts …
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:31 PM
The Supreme Court, Discrimination and Maximal Deference administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/11/20/t...
JR87: indoctrination and religious education in Northern Ireland (and beyond?) administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/j...
JR87: indoctrination and religious education in Northern Ireland (and beyond?)
Introduction On 19 November 2025, the Supreme Court (Lord Reed PSC, Lords Burrows, Hamblen, Lloyd-Jones and Stephens JJSC) handed down judgment in Re JR87 [2025] UKSC 40. This case (involving an ap…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:31 PM
JR87: indoctrination and religious education in Northern Ireland (and beyond?) administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/j...
Unlawful prisoner segregation administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/u...
Unlawful prisoner segregation
The High Court (Sheldon J, 18 November 2025) has upheld a wide-ranging challenge brought by Sahayb Abu, currently serving a discretionary life sentence for preparing terrorist acts, for his segrega…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Unlawful prisoner segregation administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/u...
Applying Shvidler: Proportionality, Appeal and Review administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/a...
Applying Shvidler: Proportionality, Appeal and Review
Introduction In this post published earlier this year on this blog concerning the case of Shvidler v Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs [2025] UKSC 30, I explained…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Applying Shvidler: Proportionality, Appeal and Review administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/a...
Ofsted School Inspection Framework Changes Lawful administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/o...
Ofsted School Inspection Framework Changes Lawful
Following the tragic death of headteacher Ruth Perry in January 2023 after an Ofsted inspection of her school, Ofsted sought to introduce a new education inspection framework. At the time of her de…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Ofsted School Inspection Framework Changes Lawful administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/o...
Court of Appeal Upholds Policy Adopted Following Afghan Data Leak administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/11/11/c...
Court of Appeal Upholds Policy Adopted Following Afghan Data Leak
Introduction Earlier this year, news of the government’s so-called Afghan Data Leak made headlines. In 2022, a soldier inadvertently leaked the full details of around 25,000 Afghan individuals appl…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Court of Appeal Upholds Policy Adopted Following Afghan Data Leak administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/11/11/c...
Extradition After Andryziewicz administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/30/e...
Extradition After Andryziewicz
The UK Supreme Court handed down its judgment in Andryziewicz v Circuit Court in Lodz, Poland [2025] UKSC 23 earlier this Summer. The decision is important for evaluating the weight to be given to …
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
October 30, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Extradition After Andryziewicz administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/30/e...
Anxious scrutiny and a troubling school exclusion decision administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/22/a...
Anxious scrutiny and a troubling school exclusion decision
The Court of Appeal (Edis, Elisabeth Laing and Arnold LJJ) has handed down a split judgment in what Arnold LJ (concurring in result with Elisabeth Laing LJ) describes as a “troubling case”. It conc…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
October 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Anxious scrutiny and a troubling school exclusion decision administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/22/a...
Article 8 ECHR and delays in determining asylum applications administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/21/a...
Article 8 ECHR and delays in determining asylum applications
This case concerns the circumstances under which an applicant may be able to claim a breach of Article 8 ECHR owing to the length of delay in determining their asylum application. It is clear from …
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
October 21, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Article 8 ECHR and delays in determining asylum applications administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/21/a...
W v GRP: the functioning of gender recognition law administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/20/w...
W v GRP: the functioning of gender recognition law
Introduction On 17 October 2025, the Family Division of the England and Wales High Court (Mr Justice Hayden) handed down its judgment in W v Gender Recognition Panel [2025] EWHC 2685 (Fam). The cas…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
October 20, 2025 at 1:29 PM
W v GRP: the functioning of gender recognition law administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/20/w...
Court of Appeal permits Palestine Action proscription challenge to proceed on two further grounds and dismisses Home Secretary’s alternative remedy argument administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/17/c...
Court of Appeal permits Palestine Action proscription challenge to proceed on two further grounds and dismisses Home Secretary’s alternative remedy argument
The Court of Appeal has dismissed the Home Secretary’s alternative remedy argument against the High Court’s grant of permission for Palestine Action’s judicial review challenge against proscription…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
October 17, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Court of Appeal permits Palestine Action proscription challenge to proceed on two further grounds and dismisses Home Secretary’s alternative remedy argument administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/17/c...
Procedural rigour, promptness, and “protective issuing” in judicial review administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/16/p...
Procedural rigour, promptness, and “protective issuing” in judicial review
The concept of protective issuing is familiar to litigation lawyers. It involves issuing a claim without any (or without any full) pleaded case when some aspect of the pre-action process has not ye…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
October 16, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Procedural rigour, promptness, and “protective issuing” in judicial review administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/16/p...
When does anxious scrutiny apply? Divergent views on the High Court administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/10/w...
When does anxious scrutiny apply? Divergent views on the High Court
The rationality (or Wednesbury) test in judicial review operates notoriously as a “sliding scale”, depending on the particular facts in which it is raised. In what is now the leading case on the ap…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
October 10, 2025 at 12:25 PM
When does anxious scrutiny apply? Divergent views on the High Court administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/10/w...
The statutory duty to have regard to best interests of children in the context of child refugee families administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/09/t...
The statutory duty to have regard to best interests of children in the context of child refugee families
When an adult refugee settles in the UK, they can apply for their children and partner to join them – the applicable policy suggests that reunion rights should be granted, in most cases, “automatic…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
October 9, 2025 at 3:07 PM
The statutory duty to have regard to best interests of children in the context of child refugee families administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/09/t...
Prisoner rehabilitation and liberty deprivations administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/09/02/p...
Prisoner rehabilitation and liberty deprivations
This case concerns prisoners’ right to access rehabilitation courses under Article 5 ECHR. In short, European and domestic case law has established that in some circumstances, where a prisoner is s…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
September 2, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Prisoner rehabilitation and liberty deprivations administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/09/02/p...
Divisional Court publishes CLOSED judgment in successful challenge against exclusion from Afghan data leak relocation scheme administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/08/10/d...
Divisional Court publishes CLOSED judgment in successful challenge against exclusion from Afghan data leak relocation scheme
On 8 August 2025, the Divisional Court (Dingemans LJ, Chamberlain and Johnson JJ) published the OPEN version of a previously CLOSED judgment, dated 19 April 2024, in which it allowed a claim for ju…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
August 10, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Divisional Court publishes CLOSED judgment in successful challenge against exclusion from Afghan data leak relocation scheme administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/08/10/d...
School sanctions: powers and duties administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/31/s...
School sanctions: powers and duties
The education system of England and Wales is governed by a thicket of statutory provisions. Most of these provisions have not been subjected to litigation – educators and civil servants abide by an…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
July 31, 2025 at 5:14 PM
School sanctions: powers and duties administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/31/s...
High Court green-lights challenge to Palestine Action proscription administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/31/h...
High Court green-lights challenge to Palestine Action proscription
The High Court (Chamberlain J) has granted a co-founder of Palestine Action (PA) permission to apply for judicial review of the Home Secretary’s decision to proscribe PA. Judgment in R (Ammori) v S…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
July 31, 2025 at 2:41 PM
High Court green-lights challenge to Palestine Action proscription administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/31/h...
The UK Supreme Court’s twin approaches to appellate proportionality administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/29/t...
The UK Supreme Court’s twin approaches to appellate proportionality
There is a lot to unpack in this morning’s Supreme Court judgment in the joint appeals of Shvidler v Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and Dalston Projects Ltd v …
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
July 29, 2025 at 11:05 AM
The UK Supreme Court’s twin approaches to appellate proportionality administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/29/t...
Dodging ECHR duties: exceptions to the two-child benefit cap administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/28/d...
Dodging ECHR duties: exceptions to the two-child benefit cap
The two-child benefit cap is an intensely controversial policy brought in by the last Conservative government, and, despite some murmurings to the contrary, continues to be maintained by the curren…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
July 28, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Dodging ECHR duties: exceptions to the two-child benefit cap administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/28/d...
The Soneji principle and remedial discretion in judicial review administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/26/t...
The Soneji principle and remedial discretion in judicial review
It is a familiar principle of public law, and perhaps more generally the law relating to breach of statutory requirements, that where there has been non-compliance with such requirements in taking …
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
July 26, 2025 at 12:20 PM
The Soneji principle and remedial discretion in judicial review administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/26/t...
A Gloss on the Friends of the Earth test for what constitutes a materially relevant consideration? administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/24/a...
A Gloss on the Friends of the Earth test for what constitutes a materially relevant consideration?
The world of planning law once again proves itself to be a motor for the development of public law principles. This time, Lewis LJ saw a chance to develop the public law requirement on decision-mak…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
July 24, 2025 at 2:37 PM
A Gloss on the Friends of the Earth test for what constitutes a materially relevant consideration? administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/24/a...
Freedom of information exemptions: cumulative or independent? administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/23/f...
Freedom of information exemptions: cumulative or independent?
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 created a scheme which sets up a general right upon members of the public to have information held by public bodies disclosed to them. This right is, however, su…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
July 23, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Freedom of information exemptions: cumulative or independent? administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/23/f...
The Building Services Act and the presumption against retrospectivity
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/09/t...
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/09/t...
The Building Services Act and the presumption against retrospectivity
The facts of Adriatic Land 5 Limited v Long Leaseholders at Hippersley Point [2025] EWCA Civ 856 are straightforward enough. The applicant landlord owned a large building. That building needed sign…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
July 9, 2025 at 8:56 AM
The Building Services Act and the presumption against retrospectivity
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/09/t...
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/09/t...