Public Law and Popular Justice

Abstract

Group litigation is becoming commonplace. Rules of standing have been relaxed to allow groups to bring representative actions on behalf of their members or to act`in the public interest'. Groups increasingly intervene in actions between third parties, presenting amicus briefs. This article traces the origins of group action in courts and speculates on the possible effects of changes which blur traditional distinctions between legal and political process, concluding that the legal process must be kept broadly within traditional boundaries, if the qualities of independence, rationality and finality for which it is valued are to be maintained.

The Impact of Accountability Mechanisms on Public Sector Environmental Sustainability Performance: A Case Study of Sri Lanka

“…Legal accountability is based on a relationship between the controlling party and the public agency, where this outside party has high control to impose legal sanctions while the public agency is the 'executor' (Romzek & Dubnick 1987;Romzek 2000)). Legal accountability is of increasing importance as there is great trust placed in the legal system and courts than in parliament (Boven 2010; Harlow 2002). Legal accountability will usually be based on specific responsibilities, formally or legally conferred upon authorities.…”

Who – Whom? Unresolved Issues in Judicial Review Inaugural Lecture at the University of Buckingham May 29th 2007

“…Some question the extent to which the pressure groups are representative of their members. 39 Others detect a lack of consistent principle in the basis for permitting interventions: and question the value to the Courts of an avowedly partisan approach in contrast to the neural assistance provided by the old style amicus curia or, in one of the clumsy neologians consequent upon Lord Woolf's expulsion of Latin from the language of the law, an advocate of the Court. 40 But the judiciary are even more involved in issues with a political dimension -appointments of junior doctors, restrictions on casino gambling, the scope of the inquests into the death of Diana Princess of Wales and Dodi Al Fayed, the propriety of ceasing the investigation into alleged corruption in the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia.…”

Asylum, welfare and civil society: a case study in civil repair

“…Applications rose from 160 in England andWales in 1974, to 4,539 in 1998, with immigration matters consistently accounting for 50% or more of the total, while Treasury spending for JR between 1997 and 2003 rose from around £1.7 million to £6.2 million (House of Commons 2006). JR can be an intensely political process, and the names of individual applicants may disguise a wide range of interest group activity (Harlow andRawlings 1984, 1992). Prosser's (1983) account of CPAG test case strategy, for example, demonstrates the role of JR in contesting policy and harnessing the law as an instrument of social change.…”

“…Yet it has been argued that the court cannot mimic parliamentary consultation (Hannett 2003) or perform as a surrogate legislature (Harlow 2002). Thus, a number of commentators express reservations about the status of third-party interventions, the related politicisation of the courts, and the use of the courts to revisit political battles lost elsewhere (Hannett 2003, see also Harlow 2003, Fordham 2007.…”