- It can be a quick win! A pre-action letter (see below) is often enough to produce a result as public authorities want to avoid ending up in the High Court, particularly in cases where there is a clear error or failure on their part, to avoid costs or setting precedents that will bind decision making in the future. If you are challenging a delay or failure to follow the law, the legal team acting for the relevant decision maker is likely to revise the original decision/make a decision where there has been a delay or failure rather than let it get to court, where they risk losing.
- Using letter templates, the ‘letter before claim’ (also known as a pre-action letter) is straight forward and support is available at the pre-action stage (i.e. before the matter goes to court) from CPAG. We can review your letters, discuss grounds with you, and advise on the merits of your case. Contact [email protected]
- The pre-action stage is cost free – it just takes the time of you writing the pre-action letter. If the decision is not changed at the pre-action stage, your client can choose not to proceed any further with their claim and will have lost nothing. If your client wants to proceed with their claim, legal aid is available for judicial review.
- Find a network of solicitors available for litigation if it does need to go to court here. Note that some of these firms do not accept self-referrals, so you will need to refer your client to them to advance their case.
- The court’s decision in a judicial review case (if it does get to court, for example in cases which challenge the lawfulness of primary legislation) is binding, so it might help other people in similar situations. Read more about some of CPAG’s law-changing Judicial Review work.
- It adds another string to your bow. See here for some ‘quick win’ examples of judicial review pre-action protocol letters.
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