Can a Judicial Review help, if time is short?

An interesting, if not unexpected, decision has recently been handed down by Mr. Justic Ouseley in respect of the matter of R (Woodward) –v- Thurrock BC.

In summary, Woodward (the Applicant) had applied to Thurrock for a premises licence for a proposed music festival scheduled to take place in August.

There were several objections and following a hearing by the Licensing Committee the application was refused.  Essex Magistrates’ Court, who were the proper Court of appeal for the matter, indicated (when asked by the Applicant’s lawyers) that an appeal was unlikely to be listed before the proposed date of the festival.

The Applicant applied for Judicial Review and urgent consideration, arguing that he could not obtain a satisfactory remedy from the Magistrates’ court. They also argued some impropriety on behalf of the Licensing Committee who had not read every document in the 300+ page event management plan the Applicant had served in parts up to and including the day of the Committee hearing.

Dismissing the application and all grounds the Judge made the following points:

1. It is not appropriate to seek JR on the basis that to do so would be quicker than appealing to the magistrates’ court in the way that Parliament plainly intended;
2. Further, the attempt to get the matter listed quickly by the magistrates’ court had been insufficient, amounting to no more than a polite inquiry;
3. The urgency was, in any event, of the Claimant’s own making, having applied for his licence less than four months prior to the scheduled start date for the festival;
4. There was no requirement that a sub-committee read all supporting documentation prior to a hearing – their job was to consider the representations made, and decide what steps were appropriate in the light of them. They were entitled to rely on what was said by the parties about the documentation;

This case again underlines the importance of submitting applications in good time whenever possible.

We are grateful to Cornerstone Barristers and, in particular, Mr. Josef Cannon who represented Thurrock in this case for bringing it to our attention.