ABSTRACT
As illustrated in the previous chapter, a decision may be rendered ultra vires through the decision-maker doing the wrong thing or abusing the power enjoyed. An action may also be rendered ultra vires through a failure to maintain procedural standards. These standards may be imposed by the legal source of the power (normally, in this case, statute). However, the courts have also developed procedural standards in the form of the rules of natural justice or, in more modern terminology, the duty to act fairly. These judicial standards will normally be applied to all judicially reviewable decisions – even those regulated also by a statutory procedure.
