In a speech to the CBI annual conference yesterday, David Cameron announced measures to limit the ability of scheme opponents to get judicial reviews.
He said that judicial reviews were “a massive growth industry” but many were “completely pointless” and five out of six were refused.
There were 11,200 judicial reviews last year.
“We urgently needed to get a grip on this. So here’s what we’re going to do,” he said. “Reduce the time limit when people can bring cases. Charge more for reviews so people think twice about time-wasting. And instead of giving hopeless cases up to four bites of the cherry to appeal a decision, we will halve that to two.”
Justice secretary Chris Grayling said later: “The government is concerned about the burdens ill-conceived cases are placing on stretched public services as well as the unnecessary costs and lengthy delays which are stifling innovation and economic growth.
“We plan to renew the system so that judicial reviews will continue their important role but the courts and economy are no longer hampered by having to deal with applications brought forward even though the applicant knows they have no chance of success. We will publish our proposals shortly.'
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