Civil Reform Bill proposals will weaken access to judicial review system

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan said a citizen’s right to challenge what they believe to be unlawful decisions of public bodies is fundamental, but must also be balanced in a manner which 'also protects the common good'.

Government plans to weaken access to judicial reviews will damage women fleeing domestic abuse, access to education, and climate accountability, a community law centre has said.

Community Law & Mediation is the latest body to hit out at the proposals contained in the Civil Reform Bill, and said the judicial review system, as it currently exists, is a “vital last resort” for people to challenge wrong decisions, uphold their rights, and hold the State to account.

“Weakening judicial review will not improve efficiency, it will instead entrench poor decision-making and reduce accountability in public bodies,” its chief executive Aoife Kelly-Desmond said. 

“Proposals in the bill to restrict access to judicial review risk blocking many important cases from proceeding in matters that have nothing do with major infrastructure.”

Published earlier this year, the new Civil Reform Bill would place judicial review on a statutory basis with a public interest test at the centre of the process “ensuring balance and protection of common good”, according to the Government.

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan said the new system will be more streamlined and comes against the backdrop of the State having significant challenges including housing shortages, energy deficits, and inadequate water supplies.

He also said a citizen’s right to challenge what they believe to be unlawful decisions of public bodies is fundamental, but must also be balanced in a manner which “also protects the common good”.

The proposals are being considered by an Oireachtas committee and, in its submission, Community Law & Mediation said it shared concerns expressed by groups such as Free Legal Advice Centres over the impacts of the legislation.

“In line with recent statements by Government, the minister identifies judicial review as a barrier to the delivery of key infrastructure and housing,” it said.

“No empirical evidence is provided to support this contention, and in any event, the General Scheme is broadly applied to all judicial reviews, on any subject matter.”

Judicial reviews taken as a last resort

It highlighted recent cases to show how varied issues led to judicial reviews being taken as a last resort as people sought to defend their rights.

In one case, it challenged the decision of the Legal Aid Board to use the housing assistance payment as part of the means assessment in a case where their client was a victim-survivor of domestic violence and a lone parent, who was unable to access legal aid to pursue family law reliefs.

“[We also] issued judicial review proceedings challenging the lawfulness of a local authority’s refusal of our client’s application for a priority transfer,” it said.

“Our client, a victim-survivor of domestic abuse, sought a transfer of social housing on exceptional grounds, seeking to secure safe long-term housing for her and her child.”

The Bar Council chair last week rejected an assertion from the Taoiseach that judicial reviews are taken with excessive frequency.

“Our real concern is that important and powerful interests use the fact that barristers earn money for doing their job, the same as everyone else, as an excuse for advancing arguments that are designed to restrict ordinary citizens’ access to the courts,” Sean Guerin SC said.