Critically examine and assess the importance in the development of Essay

Critically examine and assess the importance in the development of judicial review of the case- Roy v kensington & chelsea & westminster family practitioner com - Essay Example Different views can be held of the role of the courts in this area, but they all have one thing in common; they see the prime function of judicial control as essentially negative, namely to ensure that government bodies do not overstep the proper blends of their powers and to protect individuals and the interests of groups and of the public against undue encroachment by government agencies. The two judicial reviews which make it less than ideally adapted to the function of ensuring administrative efficiency are; first is unsystematic nature of judicial review; Courts will review the activities of government only when asked to do so, within a time, by an applicant with the required interest in the outcome of the review. Judicial review cannot be used to conduct wide-ranging and coordinated investigations into the conduct of government business and secondly judicial review is essentially retrospective; its primary concern is with past conduct, and its effect 1on the future conduct of t he administration is incidental (Cooper, 1988). In United Kingdom constitution, the major weapon of judicial control over the exercise of governmental power is provided by the action for judicial review. This action serves to keep public bodies within the scope of the power conferred on them by the law. Prior to the present law commission inquiry into procedural aspects of judicial review, there have been significant changes in the ways in which governmental power is exercised and controlled. This focuses on the law commission’s report number 226 the ‘Judicial Review and Statutory Appeals’ which examines specific proposals contained therein arguing that, underlying the reforms there exists no coherent vision of the future role of public law. But instead, what is revealed is a confused cocktail of measures in which the tension between the legitimate needs of public administration and the opposing requirement that