Nicholas Dobson rides the rollercoaster of public authority fairness
Parents and public authorities, although often at variance, do have something in common. Those aggrieved by their decisions are likely to cry (with greater or lesser degrees of sophistication) “It’s not fair!”. And while traditional judicial review may be unavailable in respect of parental decisions on bedtime, it certainly is in respect of unlawful decisions of governmental authorities.
And (by way of long evolution from the cardinal principles of natural justice) such authorities are expected to take decisions fairly. These principles are that no-one is to be a judge in their own cause (demotically, nemo iudex in causa sua) and the obligation to afford the parties a fair opportunity of presenting their respective views on the matters in issue (audi alteram partem—hear the other side).
The law of public authority fairness is part of an extensive suite of principles applied by the courts when supervising the decisions of public authorities to avoid potential abuse of power. These include Wednesbury reasonableness, the fiduciary duty, adherence to proper statutory purpose and human rights and equalities compliance. Fairness
