PM to curb time wasting legal policy challenges

Published on 19/11/2012 01:25

A CRACKDOWN on “time 
wasting” legal challenges to 
government policies will be promised by David Cameron today as part of efforts to boost economic recovery.

Opponents will be given less time to apply for judicial review, face higher fees and see the chances to appeal halved under proposals to be published by the Ministry of Justice.

The Prime Minister will tell business leaders that he is determined to “get a grip” on the process after the number of applications almost trebled in a decade.

And he will compare deficit-reduction efforts to the fight against Hitler, suggesting Whitehall rules should be “circumvented” as during wartime to speed up decision making.

Plans for the shake-up of the judicial review process are due to be announced by Mr Cameron in his speech to business leaders at the CBI annual conference. Downing Street said they were aimed at making people “think twice about time-wasting” after application numbers rose from 160 in 1975 to 11,200 last year.

Officials denied undermining the ability to challenge the decisions of public authorities, insisting the aim was to end unnecessary delays and cut out weak cases submitted “even when the applicant knows they have no chance”, but gave no further details on how much fees could rise.