R (Rex Cart) v Upper Tribunal [2010] EWCA Civ 568

Court of Appeal

Facts: The Upper Tribunal limited C’s permission to appeal against a First-tier tribunal decision. C sought judicial review of the Upper Tribunal's decision, challenging it on grounds of jurisdictional error and procedural justice.

Issue: Whether the Upper Tribunal’s decision was amenable to judicial review, and if so, on what grounds.

Held: The Court of Appeal held that the Upper Tribunal was amenable to judicial review for outright excesses of jurisdiction or denials of procedural justice but not for errors of law within jurisdiction. The Act did not provide for an exclusion of judicial review for errors of law.

Judicial Statement: The supervisory jurisdiction of the High Court over statutory tribunals extends to jurisdictional errors and fundamental denials of justice, but not to errors of law within jurisdiction, emphasizing the need for clear statutory language to oust judicial review.