Overview

Obtaining financial compensation in public law cases has always been difficult.

For many years the Law Commission has been considering this area of law as part of a project to address the question: 'when and should the individual be able to obtain [monetary] redress against a public body that has acted wrongfully'? It proposed to rationalise the law so that damages became a normal remedy available in judicial review.

However, following considerable opposition from government – which can hardly be expected to be interested in making it easier to claim compensation from public authorities - the Law Commission has admitted defeat and abandoned its proposals for reform in this area.

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