Lawyers and business at odds over Cameron’s appeals plans
LAWYERS said David Cameron’s plans to cut down on judicial reviews, announced in a speech yesterday, were a red herring when it came to promoting economic growth, but business groups responded warmly to the proposals.
The Prime Minister had promised to cut back judicial reviews, saying many were “completely pointless” – but Adam Chapman at Kingsley Napley said Cameron was “missing the point.”
“It is a myth that judicial review is stopping the government from proceeding with policies to help boost the economy,” he said.
He pointed out that the number of judicial review cases had actually gone down since 2006, if cases only related to asylum and immigration were excluded.
But the British Property Federation welcomed the government’s proposals to cut back on the process, saying it could boost the economy. “Planning cases make up a very small number of total judicial review cases, but by speeding up the process it would deliver significant benefits in terms of enabling economic activity to take place more quickly,” said chief executive Liz Peace.