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You are here: Home : : Guidance on jurisdiction : : Examples : : Sch 5.1 Commencement of civil/criminal proceedings

Guidance for LGO staff

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Examples: Commencement of civil or criminal proceedings against the council

  • The complaint is about a decision made by the council.
    • The complainant’s solicitor has written to the council expressing an intention to bring judicial review (JR) proceedings and received a reply under the pre-action protocol – IN (unless or until an application for JR is made)
    • The application for judicial review has been issued – OUT (unless the application was misconceived, see below)
    • The application for JR has been made but rejected on grounds that the application was misconceived, (eg the complainant claims compensation for negligence by the council, or seeks to judicially review a decision relating to the terms of a contract between the complainant and council) – IN (but may be outside jurisdiction for other reasons: see for example 26(6)(c))
    • The application for JR has been heard but rejected on grounds that the application itself had no merit and was bound to fail (eg was purely a disagreement with the merits of the council’s decision) – OUT
    • The application for JR has been granted – OUT
  • The complainant expresses an intention to sue the council for negligence/breach of statutory duty/breach of contract and her solicitor has issued a summons – OUT (if the summons has not yet been issued, see 26(6)(c))
  • The council has issued a summons/obtained a liability order for a Council Tax debt. The complainant agrees that the amount demanded is correct but complains about the way that the council and its bailiffs went about collecting the money – IN, but only in respect of the way the council recovered the debt. The existence of the debt is OUT on Schedule 5.1 and the amount owed is probably appealable.
  • The council has issued a court summons in respect of the matter complained about: for instance, the complainant says that she has not failed to pay her rent and yet the council is seeking an eviction order for rent arrears – OUT

     

Date Updated: 15/07/09