ABSTRACT
The procedure known as an application for judicial review is set out in Order 53 of the Rules <;>f the Supreme Court and s.31 of the Supreme Court Act 1981. These provisions are broadly similar, although they are capable of being distinguished in several quite important ways. For example, with regard to the time limit for making an application for leave to apply for judicial review, rule 4 of Order 53 requires that the application 'shall be made promptly and in any event within three months from the date when the grounds for the application first arose', whereas s.31(6) entitles the High Court to refuse to grant leave where it considers that there has been 'undue delay' in making the application. For present purposes, it is important to note that neither Order 53 nor the 1981 Act declares judicial review to be an exclusive procedure for obtaining a declaration or an injunction where an individual's rights under public law have been infringed. However, in the leading case of O'Reilly v. Mackman,I the practical effect of the House of Lords ruling was the establishment of procedural exclusivity.
