Cases could be transferred to Upper Tribunal under crime and courts bill

The rise in the number of judicial reviews is mainly the result of an increase in asylum and immigration cases, the Ministry of Justice has admitted.

In its consultation paper on cutting the number of judicial reviews published last week, the MoJ said that since October 2011, courts could transfer a limited amount of these cases to the Upper Tribunal.

Officials said that measures in the crime and courts bill, currently before parliament, would allow for all immigration, asylum or nationality judicial reviews to be heard in the Upper Tribunal, and allow the Lord Chief Justice to deploy judges more flexibly to respond more quickly to changes in demand.

The number of judicial reviews has grown from 160 in 1974 to 4,250 in 2000 and over 11,000 in 2011. Of the 7,600 applications for permission considered in 2011, only around one in six was granted.

http://www.solicitorsjournal.com/node/14936