In two recent cases, Jefferies and Finucane, the courts have considered key themes in the modern doctrine of legitimate expectation, including whether an expectation can be created in conditions of strict confidence, and the circumstances in which the government can resile from expectations created in a macro-political context.
The Leveson Inquiry into the behaviour of the British press was originally intended to take place in two parts. The first would inquire into the culture, practice and ethics of the press, and make recommendations for more effective regulation (Leveson 1). This occurred during 2011 and 2012. It generated a 2000 page Final Report, which in turn spawned a new regulator, IPSO.
Following this there was to be a hiatus, during which criminal prosecutions arising from the conduct of the News of the World could take place. Once these were completed, it was proposed that Leveson would reconvene to inquire into the corporate governance of the press, and the conduct of the police, politicians and other public servants in relation to it (Leveson 2).
On 1 March 2018, the current government announced that Leveson 2 would not proceed.
R (Jefferies) v Secretary of State for the Home Department was a judicial review of this decision brought by four people whom Leveson 1 found to have been treated badly by sections of the newspaper industry – a group which included Gerry and Kate McCann, parents of the missing Madeleine. They challenged the decision not to hold Leveson 2 on the ground that they had a legitimate expectation that the second stage of the inquiry would go ahead.
Shortly after Jefferies, the Supreme Court reached a decision in the long-running case of Geraldine Finucane, which also turned on the question of whether the claimant had a legitimate expectation of a public inquiry, in this case into the murder of her husband in one of the most infamous episodes of the Northern Ireland Troubles.
Both cases deal with important themes in the law on when legitimate expectations arise, and when (having arisen) they can lawfully be frustrated.
Continue reading Developments in Legitimate Expectation – Secrets, Politics and Inquiries
Public Law & Regulation 