CPD Course:
Procedural Fairness
as a Ground
of 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.

Procedural fairness is an increasingly important ground of judicial review.  From licence application procedures to regulatory decisions, immigration refusals to disciplinary decisions, there are many opportunities for public decision-makers to go wrong procedurally.  The law applies strict standards of procedural fairness which must be observed by public decision-makers.  A sound understanding of this important ground of judicial review is necessary, both for government and public decision-makers to keep themselves right, and applicants who may seek to enforce this ground in judicial review.

This seminar will take participants through the main aspects of the law on procedural fairness, including the right to be heard, the right to be represented, the duty to give reasons for a decision, and bias/partiality.  Real cases will be used to explain and illustrate the main points and your seminar leader will be delighted to answer your questions on the day.  The session will be useful for solicitors in both the public and private sectors; and to those who both seek to launch a judicial review application or who may find themselves on the receiving end of one.  Come along and learn from this interactive seminar.  All welcome!

• Up-to-date coverage of procedural fairness as a ground of judicial review
• Explanation of the key aspects of procedural fairness: the right to be heard, the right to be represented, the duty to give reasons for a decision, and bias/partiality
• Aimed at applicants and respondents; those working in private practice, and those working in government and the public sector
• Use of real cases to explain and illustrate the main points
• Accessible and easy to understand explanations