Public law - Grounds of Review 3

Question 1

Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd v Wednesbury Corporation [1948]

Answer 1

• Facts: Wednesbury Corporation refused a cinema owner’s application for extended opening hours on Sundays under the Cinematograph Act 1909.
• Decision: The court found the decision to be unreasonable because it was based on irrelevant considerations. The local authority had taken into account the fact that some people regarded cinema attendance on Sundays as morally objectionable, which the court deemed an irrelevant consideration.
• Grounds for Irrationality: The decision was irrational as it was based on considerations that were outside the scope of the legal authority and irrelevant to the purpose of the decision.

Question 2

Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service [1985] AC 374 (GCHQ case):

Answer 2

• Facts: The government issued an order banning trade unions at the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) from collective bargaining.
• Decision: The court found the decision to be irrational as it was made without any reasonable justification and was disproportionate. Lord Diplock stated that the ban was “so outrageous in its defiance of logic or of accepted moral standards that no sensible person who had applied his mind to the question to be decided could have arrived at it.”
• Grounds for Irrationality: The decision was irrational due to its lack of reasonable justification and its extreme departure from accepted moral standards.

Question 3

R v Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex parte Daly [2001] UKHL 26

Answer 3

• Facts: Mr. Daly was an Irish national who had been living in the UK for over 20 years. He was convicted of possession of explosives in 1975 and sentenced to life imprisonment. After serving a substantial part of his sentence, he applied for parole. The Secretary of State refused his application, stating that he remained a threat to society.
  
  • Decision: The House of Lords found that the decision to deny parole was irrational.
  • Grounds for Irrationality: The decision was deemed irrational because the Secretary of State had not considered the exceptional progress Mr. Daly had made while in prison, his low risk of reoffending, and the fact that he had not committed any disciplinary offenses for many years. The Secretary of State’s decision was inconsistent with the evidence before him.