Support with the judicial review process 

CPAG's judicial review project can provide advice and assistance to advisers and support workers to use the judicial review pre action protocol to help their clients challenge welfare benefit and tax credit decisions and delays.

Support we provide

The support provided includes:

  • Advice on using the judicial review pre action protocol and whether it is appropriate to do so;
  • Provision of a library of pre-action protocol template letters for advisers to use on a range of welfare benefit and tax credit issues;
  • Review of advisers’ pre-action letters before they are sent on their clients’ behalves;
  • In some cases, preparing a fresh pre-action letter for advisers’ specific clients;
  • Occasionally, accepting referrals to send pre-action letters or engage in other pre-action correspondence.

We are able to correspond with you about your query via email and can review relevant paperwork.

Who can use the service?

You are eligible to access the service if you are an adviser or support worker working to provide free advice and assistance to benefit or tax credit claimants living in England or Wales.

When should you contact us?

You can access the service if you have a client who has a problem with their benefit or tax credit and there is either no right of appeal, or the right of appeal will not be effective and you think, or want to to know if, a judicial review pre-action letter could help. A right of appeal might not be effective where your client is destitute, homeless or otherwise in very urgent need.

Request support

To access the judicial review project service please email [email protected]. We will get back to you within one week of receiving your message.

Please be aware before accessing the service of any deadlines that apply in the case. The time limit to apply for judicial review is promptly and within 3 months of the decision you want to challenge. Note, in the case of an ongoing delay that time does not start to run until a decision is received.

Funder logos

This work is funded by the Legal Education Foundation and an Improving Lives Through Advice grant from the Access to Justice Foundation and the National Lottery Community Fund.