Review applications continued…again
Previous News items (Nov 6th 2013 and Nov 11 2013) reported on a number of cases where Appellants had argued that minor procedural errors in making review applications rendered the entire application void due to the wording of the s52 Licensing Act 2003.
The subject has been of interest to practitioners but is also important for residents. The matter has now been taken to the High Court in the case of R(D&D Bar Services Limited) v Romford Magistrates Court [2014] EWHC 344 (Admin), where the Judge ruled that it could never have been the intention of Parliament that minor irregularities on a notice or advertisement for a review should render the application void.
The Judge did make it clear that each case may turn on its own facts, and that if any party was able to show substantial prejudice then the decision may have been different.
Clearly, applicants for review, and local authorities advertising a review, must still follow the relevant requirements; but if there is minor error, it does not mean that everything has to start again.