Anxious Scrutiny in the Irish Courts: Too Little, Too Late?
Hibernian Law Journal, Vol. 8, p. 75, 2009
18 Pages Posted: 13 Mar 2010
Date Written: May 20, 2009
Abstract
This article looks at the approach of the Irish superior courts to challenges to administrative decisions on the basis of “reasonableness”, in particular the courts' historical resistance to adopting “variable standards” of reasonableness review, and more recent developments which may indicate a departure from the position. It begins by briefly setting out the development of variable standards of reasonableness review in the English law; the adoption of reasonableness by the Irish courts and their initial hesitance to adopting variable standards, before then going on to consider more recent cases which appear to evince an openness to this approach. This article also considers whether or not this departure from rigid reasonableness has come too late to make any real difference, given the potential supplanting of reasonableness with proportionality review.
Keywords: administrative law, judicial review, reasonableness review, human rights, proportionality, Ireland
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