R v Inland Revenue Commissioners, ex p National Federation of Self-Employed and Small Businesses Ltd
Standing to bring judicial review depends on the claimant's sufficient interest, assessed in the light of the legal and factual context of the case.
Facts
Casual workers employed in Fleet Street newspapers had for years avoided paying income tax by giving false names. The Inland Revenue reached an agreement with the newspaper unions and employers under which the workers would register and pay tax in future, and the Revenue would not investigate tax lost in earlier years. The National Federation of Self-Employed and Small Businesses, which represented taxpayers who paid tax in full, sought judicial review of the agreement, arguing that it was unlawful for the Revenue to grant such an amnesty.
Legal principle
The House of Lords held that the Federation did not have standing to challenge the agreement. Under the rules of court, an applicant must have a sufficient interest in the matter to which the application relates. Standing should be considered together with the merits of the case, not as a preliminary question in isolation. The Revenue had a wide managerial discretion in collecting taxes, and there was no evidence that it had acted unlawfully. Lord Diplock said that it would be a grave lacuna in our system of public law if a pressure group, or even a single public spirited taxpayer, were prevented by outdated technical rules of locus standi from bringing the matter to the attention of the court to vindicate the rule of law and get the unlawful conduct stopped. However, one taxpayer generally has no sufficient interest in the tax affairs of another.
Related cases on judicial review: scope, standing and ouster clauses
- Anisminic Ltd v Foreign Compensation Commission [1969] 2 AC 147
- O'Reilly v Mackman [1983] 2 AC 237
- R (Cart) v Upper Tribunal [2011] UKSC 28, [2012] 1 AC 663
- R (Privacy International) v Investigatory Powers Tribunal [2019] UKSC 22, [2020] AC 491
- R (Walton) v Scottish Ministers [2012] UKSC 44
- R v Disciplinary Committee of the Jockey Club, ex p Aga Khan [1993] 1 WLR 909
- R v Hull University Visitor, ex p Page [1993] AC 682
- R v Inspectorate of Pollution, ex p Greenpeace Ltd (No 2) [1994] 4 All ER 329
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