Administrative Law Principles

May 17th, 2018 by James Goudie KC

In R (Gallager Group Ltd) v The Competition and Markets Authority (2018) UKSC 25 the Supreme Court has ruled that:-

(1) The domestic law of the UK does not recognize equal treatment as a distinct principle of administrative law: paragraph 24;

(2) It is not an absolute rule: ibid;

(3) In domestic administrative law issues of consistency may arise, but generally as aspects of rationality: paragraph 26;

(4) A legitimate expectation of being treated equally tells one nothing about the legal consequences of such an expectation, in terms of rights and remedies in public law: paragraph 30;

(5) Simple unfairness as such is not a ground for judicial review: paragraph 32;

(6) Substantive unfairness is not a distinct legal criterion: paragraph 41;

(7) The addition of terms such as “conspicuous” or “abuse of power” adds nothing to the ordinary principles of judicial review, such as irrationality and legitimate expectation: ibid.

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