CPD Course:
Procedural Fairness
and
Judicial Review

Dr. Stephen Thomson is a specialist in Hong Kong public law and is the author of the leading text ‘Administrative Law in Hong Kong’ (Cambridge University Press, 2018).  He is a Legal Adviser to the Ombudsman of Hong Kong, a member of the Constitutional Affairs and Human Rights Committee of the Law Society of Hong Kong, and an examiner on the Overseas Lawyers Qualification Examination, and was Associate Professor of Law and Director of Research Postgraduate Programmes at the School of Law, City University of Hong Kong.  He holds a Ph.D. in judicial review from the University of Edinburgh (UK), and has practical legal and commercial experience, having worked at a UK law firm and acted on a consultancy and advisory basis to law firms, private clients and public bodies in Hong Kong and the UK.

Procedural fairness is an increasingly important ground of judicial review.  From licence application procedures to regulatory decisions, immigration refusals to disciplinary decisions, there are many opportunities for public decision-makers to go wrong procedurally.  The law applies strict standards of procedural fairness and procedural impropriety which must be observed by public decision-makers.  A sound understanding of this important ground of judicial review is necessary, both for government and public decision-makers to keep themselves right, and applicants who may seek to enforce this ground in judicial review.

This seminar will take delegates through the main aspects of the law on procedural fairness and procedural impropriety, including the right to an oral hearing, the right to be represented, the duty to give reasons for a decision, and bias/partiality.  Real cases will be used to explain and illustrate the main points and your seminar leader will be delighted to answer your questions on the day.  The session will be useful for solicitors in both the public and private sectors; and to those who both seek to launch a judicial review application or who may find themselves on the receiving end of one.  Come along and learn from this interactive seminar.  All welcome!

• Up-to-date coverage of procedural fairness and procedural impropriety as grounds for judicial review
• Explanation of the key aspects of procedural fairness and procedural impropriety: the right to an oral hearing, the right to be represented, the duty to give reasons for a decision, and bias/partiality
• Aimed at applicants and respondents; those working in private practice, and those working in government and the public sector
• Use of real cases to explain and illustrate the main points