Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022

Key Points

• Maintains court supervisory jurisdiction over public bodies but limits automatic rights of appeal to the Supreme Court, requiring permission in many cases.
• Reforms quashing orders to reduce automatic retrospective effect; introduces the possibility of prospective-only orders in some circumstances; several related amendments sought by opponents were withdrawn or not moved.
• Adds publicly funded legal representation for bereaved people in inquests where public bodies are represented, strengthening access to justice for families.
• Creates powers for tribunals and the Supreme Court to order pro bono costs to a charity (the Access to Justice Foundation) where the winning party was represented pro bono.
• Expands the use of online dispute resolution through Online Procedure Rules to cover online services, reflecting digitalisation of disputes.
• Requires coroner investigations that are discontinued to provide information needed to register a death, aiding death certification and record keeping.
• Some measures extend to Scotland and Northern Ireland to align with devolved arrangements where appropriate.
• Includes a requirement for a rapid review of the single justice procedure to assess its effectiveness.
• Many provisions have commencement by regulations or staged start dates noted in the bill, rather than immediate effect.
• Throughout parliamentary scrutiny, there were debates about retrospective effects of quashing orders and the balance between redress and legal certainty.

Progress

The Act has received Royal Assent and become law. However, many provisions are brought into force by separate commencement orders or regulations, so the practical impact will rollout over time rather than all at once.

Voting

The bill was backed by the governing Conservative party (and Reform UK in the same bloc), while Labour and most other opposition parties opposed key features. Several Lords amendments were debated and either agreed or not pursued, reflecting cross-party interest in issues like bereaved families’ rights, coroner procedures, and access to justice.