Thursday 11 June 2009 at 12:30
Public Law Discussion Group
Judicial Review and Merits Review: Comparing Administrative Adjudication by Courts and Tribunals
Speaker: Professor Peter Cane, Australian National University, Visiting Fellow, University of Oxford
Venue: Oxford Law Faculty SCR
Abstract: In Australian (federal) law, courts and tribunals are categorically different institutions, and judicial review (by courts) and 'merits review' (by tribunals) are categorically different modes of administrative adjudication. One result is that Australian law contains a richly developed concept of what tribunals do that provides a counterpart to the highly elaborated and theorised concept of judicial review. In the UK, by contrast, courts and tribunals are understood to be essentially similar institutions, and to the extent that there is a settled understanding of what tribunals do, it aligns tribunals with courts. In this talk I will explore the Australian concept of merits review and compare it with UK understandings of the juridical function of tribunals. (The paper on which the talk is based also deals with the position in the US. The full paper is available for download)."
Organised by the Public Law Discussion Group
