The cornerstone of our law: equality, consistency and judicial review

Foran, M. (2022) The cornerstone of our law: equality, consistency and judicial review. Cambridge Law Journal, 81(2), pp. 249-272. (doi: 10.1017/s000819732200023x)

Abstract

Equality before the law is a foundational principle of the common law and is of particular importance for administrative law, given the connection between judicial review and the rule of law. Analysis as to the precise requirements of this principle can help us better to understand the role that obligations to act consistently play within judicial review. This article will examine whether consistency ought to be classed as a separate ground of review and argue that this is unnecessary. Examination of the role that legal equality plays within common law reason generally will shed light on the role that it plays within administrative law in particular. Consistency is best conceived as a background principle, informed by the value of legal equality, housed within reasonableness review and not as a separate ground of review that could elide the distinction between review and appeal.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Foran, Dr Michael
• Authors: Foran, M.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Law
• Journal Name: Cambridge Law Journal
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• ISSN: 0008-1973
• ISSN (Online): 1469-2139
• Published Online: 22 September 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © The Author(s) 2022
• First Published: First published in Cambridge Law Journal 81(2): 249-272
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License