The High Court has handed down its Judgment in The Queen (on the application of UNISON) v Lord Chancellor (no 2) [2014] EWHC 4198 (Admin). The High Court dismissed the application.
Permission to appeal has been granted, which UNISON has indicated that it will pursue.
Some initial thoughts:
- The Lord Chancellor maintained the position even at this second High Court hearing that the judicial review had been brought too early. This puts UNISON between a rock and a hard place, if it had delayed, the opposite point would have been taken.
- The distinction appears to be between people who are put off because of fees and people who are prevented from claiming because of fees. This may seem like dancing on the head of a pin, but it was a point of substance to the High Court.
- If that is the correct hurdle, gathering evidence to meet that hurdle of prevented Claimants in sufficient numbers will be exceptionally difficult.
- Well done to the team at UNISON for all of the work being put into this case.
