Apr 5, 2020
Modified Ultra Vires theory: Judicial Support
Courts say that they are enforcing the will of Parliament (Boddington v BTP; ex p Page); R (A) v Croydon LBC – court decides legality of administrative action with relation to a statute, ex p Venables – court deciding whether administrative action is unlawful with reference to Parliamentary intention
Problem I: it is ambiguous whether the courts are really supporting this specific doctrine, or whether ‘ultra vires’ is a synonym for ‘unlawful’
Problem II: not all instances of judicial review can be readily explained with reference to statute: prerogative powers [GCHQ]; control of non-statutory bodies [ex p Datafin]; controls over discretionary powers [Wednesbury]