Judicial review in Scotland is a part of

United Kingdom constitutional law The United Kingdom constitutional law concerns the governance of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. With the oldest continuous political system on Earth, the British constitution is not contained in a single code but princ ...

that functions within the framework of

Scots administrative law Scots administrative law governs the rules of administrative law in Scotland, the body of case law, statutes, secondary legislation and articles which provide the framework of procedures for judicial control over government agencies and priva ...

. The power of

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incomp ...

of all actions of governmental and private bodies in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

is held by the Court of Session. The procedure is governed by Chapter 58 of the Rules of Court. Approximately 600 judicial review cases are raised every year, but most are settled by agreement with only a small minority having to be decided by the court.

Procedure

There is a 3-month time limit on seeking judicial review (see

Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 The Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament passed in October 2014 to improve access to the civil justice system and while making the Court of Session a place for the more complex cases. History The Bill was introd ...

), although if proper administration is prejudiced by delay on the part of the pursuer, the court may exercise its discretion and refuse to grant a review. Despite the procedural differences, the substantive laws regarding the grounds of judicial review in Scotland are similar to those in other western

legal systems The contemporary national legal systems are generally based on one of four basic systems: civil law, common law, statutory law, religious law or combinations of these. However, the legal system of each country is shaped by its unique history and ...

, with decisions in one jurisdiction regarded as highly persuasive in the others. There is, however, one substantial difference in Scotland since there is no distinction between review of a public body and a private body, which is different from, for example, judicial review in England and Wales, where review is only possible in the case of a public body or a quasi-public body ('' West v. Secretary of State for Scotland''). Generally, review is confined to purely procedural grounds (the official action was illegal or improper), although the court will also sanction decisions which are, in substance, so unreasonable that no reasonable decision-maker could have reached it (so-called

Wednesbury unreasonableness ''Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd. v Wednesbury Corporation''

948 Year 948 ( CMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine War: Hamdanid forces under Sayf al-Dawla raid into Asia Minor ...

1 KB 223 is an English law case that sets out the standard of unreasonableness of public-body decisions that would make them liable to be quashed on judicial review, kn ...

). A more rigorous standard of substantive review is applied where the matter complained of touches upon the pursuer's rights in terms of the Human Rights Act 1998.

References

{{Reflist Court of Session Scots Scots administrative law