CPD Course:
Introduction to
Judicial Review

Dr. Stephen Thomson is an Associate Professor at the ANU College of Law, The Australian National University.  He previously worked in Hong Kong for a number of years at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and City University of Hong Kong.  Dr. Thomson is the author of the leading text 'Administrative Law in Hong Kong' (Cambridge University Press, 2018), a Legal Adviser to the Ombudsman of Hong Kong, a member of the Constitutional Affairs and Human Rights Committee of the Law Society of Hong Kong, and an examiner on the Overseas Lawyers Qualification Examination.  He is also the General Editor of the Federal Law Review and was a Herbert Smith Freehills Visitor at the University of Cambridge.  His work has been used by courts, government and legislatures in Hong Kong, the UK and the US.  Dr. Thomson holds a PhD in constitutional and administrative law from the University of Edinburgh.

This is an intermediate level course on judicial review in Hong Kong.  It offers a broad overview of judicial review, beginning with its basic principles.  Delegates are guided first through important procedural aspects of review, such as the public/private divide, the leave stage and standing.  An overview is then given of the main substantive aspects of review, in particular the grounds of review such as fettering of discretion, breach of legitimate expectations, unreasonableness and procedural impropriety.  At each stage we consider relevant and contentious issues for the practitioner, with the main rules, principles and case law in judicial review being covered.

• Basic principles of judicial review
• Procedural aspects of review: the public/private divide, the leave stage (including delay, standing and arguability) and ouster clauses
• Substantive aspects of review: the grounds of judicial review (e.g. fettering of discretion, breach of legitimate expectations, unreasonableness and procedural impropriety)