Statutory judicial review – keep it, expand it:

PIAC’s written submission to the Administrative Review Council in response to its Consultation Paper, Judicial Review in Australia, complements the oral evidence that PIAC gave to the Council in June 2011.

In the submission, PIAC focusses on standing, a right to reasons and expanding the coverage of the ADJR Act to include executive schemes.  Additionally, PIAC proposes the introduction of a special costs power to remove one of the impediments to public interest litigation.

In summary, PIAC strongly supports the retention of the ADJR Act and argues that a statutory review mechanism is greatly preferable to relying solely on the combination of the Constitution and the common law. PIAC further argues that the ADJR Act should be strengthened and its scope expanded. Liberalising the rules on standing and introducing special costs rules for public interest cases would encourage valuable public interest litigation.