Alec Samuels believes it’s a case of nothing dared nothing gained
The client comes in with a grievance against a public body and seeking a remedy. Perhaps there has been a breach of a statutory duty or a breach of human rights. However, the evidence for such a claim seems dubious. So what about legitimate expectation, an express or implied promise or representation, or a consistent practice, such that a remedy should be given by the court? The judge will be sceptical. When might he be persuadable? The claimant has an uphill task and may appear to be “scraping the bottom of the barrel” or “clutching at straws” in his submissions. But nothing dared nothing gained.
A leading case and most useful authority is R v North and East Devon Hospital Authority ex parte Coughlan [2001] QB 213, [2000] 3 All ER 850, CA, Lord Woolf MR, Lord Justices Mummery and Sedley, a strong court, paras 55-82. The NHS placed a severely disabled patient in a care home with a promise of security for life. Subsequently the NHS proposed to close the home and
