Judicial Review

When to consider judicial review?

when a governmental body who is entrusted with a function to make decisions acts outside of its scope of jurisdiction

o53 - aggrieved party can apply for judicial review

Why cannot file a writ action?

[Ahmad Jefri v Pengarah Kebudayaan dan Kesenian Johor]

• the decision is made by the body in exercise of its public duty - amenable by judicial review - filing a writ action - amount to circumvention of o53 - therefore an abuse of process

What is judicial review

where the court exercise its supervisory jurisdiction over tribunals and public bodies on their administrative actions - check and balance over the arm of executive.

Obtaining leave for judicial review

• o53r3(1) & (2) - must obtain for leave of court + statement stating out name and description of applicant, relief sought and grounds it was sought on + affidavits verifying facts relied on

• o53r3(3) - notice of application for leave must be given to AG Chambers at least 3 days before the trial date

• (6) - this application shall be made within 3 months from the date when the grounds of application first arose or when the administrative decision is first communicated to the applicant

3 months timeframe to apply for judicial review lapsed

[Wong Kin Hoong v Ketua Pengarah Jabatan Alam Sekitar] - FC stated the timeframe for JR is fundamental - not curable under o1A or o2r1

• can apply for extension of time under o53r3(7) , serve on all parties - and then apply for leave of court to file judicial review

• must furnish good reason as to why the application was filed late - court will only grant extension if the explanation is satisfactory

After leave obtained

o53r4 - shall file a notice in Form 110 within 14 days and serve it tgt with a copy of statement and affidavits in support on all persons directly affected within 14 days before date of hearing

If court refuse to grant extension of time

crt no longer has juris to hear the application for judicial review - merits of the case is irrelevant - [Wong Kin Hoong]

principle during the review

whether the public body made decision that is irrational, illegal or whether there was any procedural impropriety or [Ranjit Kaur v Hotel Excelsior] - merits of the matter

third party wishes to be heard in the review

o53r8 - can apply to be heard in the opposition of the review

the court may grant permission if he appears to court to be the proper person

• cannot apply to intervene under o15r6(2)(b) as o15r6 is not applicable to judicial review following the legal maxim of generalia specialibus non derogant in which o53 supersedes over o15