Part 6: judicial review In the Valuation Office Agency
The Valuation Office Agency's (VOA) technical manual for the rating of business (non-domestic) property.
A Judicial Review (JR) is a High Court proceeding in which a judge reviews the lawfulness of a decision made or action taken (or a failure to take action) by a public body.聽 It is a challenge to the way in which a decision has been made, rather than the rights and wrongs of the conclusion reached.
JR may be used where there is no right of appeal or where all avenues of appeal have been exhausted.聽 It also allows individuals or groups to challenge in court the way that Ministers, Government Departments and other public bodies make decisions.
In all cases, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE.
A JR may be sought on any aspect of work undertaken by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA).
In local taxation cases the relevant notice might be served upon VOs/LOs in their statutory capacity relating to rating or valuation lists.聽 Similarly, the VOA may be involved in a case where a notice has been served upon the Upper Tribunal, the valuation tribunals or the rating authority.
In revenue cases it is unusual for individual caseworkers to be a direct party, but they may be drawn into proceedings because of valuations that have been supplied to HMRC.
In work for other public sector clients, particularly Right-to-Buy cases, individual caseworkers might be served with a notice.聽 There may also be involvement where a notice has been served on the client for whom we have supplied a valuation.
A JR may follow a Community Infrastructure Levy case.
These examples are not exhaustive and all caseworkers, managers, VOs, LOs and sector heads should be vigilant to identify cases in which they may be involved.
Formal papers relating to JR are unmistakeable.聽 It is however possible that the official procedures are not followed and correspondence relating to JR may be contained in letters or emails.聽 This is likely when a JR is initiated by a lay person, without legal representation and the proper rules of service are not followed.聽 Improbable as it may seem, it is not unknown for the existence of JR initiated by a lay person to be discovered almost by accident.
No matter how it first comes to the attention of VOA staff, immediate action is always required when initial JR correspondence is received.聽 Receipt of such correspondence means that the process is already under way and so TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE.
If anyone suspects they have received or finds correspondence which may be about a JR, they must immediately contact the Litigation and Technical Policy Team.
An application for JR cannot be made in England and Wales without first obtaining leave from the High Court.聽 Leave to seek a JR is made by individual application (formerly called an ex parte application).聽 Strictly speaking, there is a procedure to notify any other affected parties that an application is about to be made and, subsequently, has been made.聽 However, especially if the applicant is acting in person and without representation, it is possible that these requirements are overlooked.聽 In such circumstances, the VOA may well have no knowledge that an application for JR is being made.
If leave is granted, the applicant then has to serve a copy of the claim form (sealed by the court), together with any accompanying documents, on the defendant and any person the applicant considers to be an interested party (unless the court directs otherwise) within 7 days of the date of issue, i.e. the date shown on the court seal.
Strictly, this should be served on the Solicitor for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRCS), as the proper person to accept such service on behalf of the VOA.聽 This is not always the case and these notices may arrive by post or email.
Once the Claim Form has been served, the recipient has 21 DAYS to issue an 鈥渁cknowledgement of service鈥�.聽 This sets out a summary of the grounds for contesting the claim and the name and address of any other person considered to be an interested party and who may not previously have been identified.
The acknowledgement of service must be served upon the applicant and the interested parties no later than 7 days after it is filed with the court.
Since the time limits are so short, it is vital that immediate action is taken at all stages when it is discovered that JR proceedings have been launched.
It can be perfectly proper for the VOA to seek costs against an applicant where it can be shown that there is no just cause for seeking the JR or that a remedy lies elsewhere.聽 Once the case is registered on the Litigation Register, there is a diary sheet set up within the program.
Conversely, it is important in situations where the ratepayer/taxpayer/claimant has a good case which the VOA is likely to be advised to concede, that the time taken to reach such a conclusion is minimised in order to avoid the payment of costs.
It has been established that an applicant for JR is not entitled to costs in certain circumstances - particularly where review proceedings are launched against the VOA, without warning, where there has been no previous undue delay on the part of the VOA and the matter is then settled promptly without the application having to go to a hearing.
The procedures for JR are covered in the Civil Procedures Regulations.
A party wishing to start a JR should send a 鈥減re-action protocol鈥� letter to the VOA.聽 This may look like any other correspondence but should state it is a pre-action protocol letter.聽 In cases where such correspondence is received, it must urgently be sent to the Litigation and Technical Policy Team (L&TPT).
Any correspondence received mentioning a JR should be passed immediately to the L&TPT.聽 If it鈥檚 not a pre-action protocol letter, it may well indicate a JR has started and the VOA is unaware of it.
The litigation settlement review panel (LSRP) must be notified of the JR.聽 (Link http://voaintranet.voa.gpn.gov.uk/business-streams/chief-valuer-group/chief-valuer-function/litigation-settlement-review)聽 Also consideration should be given to escalation to an appropriate level.
The L&TPT will make suitable arrangements with the appropriate specialist regarding the scope and supply of information required to defend the VOA position and to ensure that legal representation by HMRCS is arranged without delay
If a VOA Unit/Sector Head considers that JR is the only remedy open in any particular case, it must be remembered that an application for JR shall be made promptly and in any event within three months from the date when grounds for the application first arose, unless the Court considers there is good reason for extending the period within which the application shall be made.
If, therefore, in any proceedings (at a hearing before a local valuation tribunal, for example) grounds for bringing an action for JR are perceived, the three months period would start at that time and not when the decision is given.聽 Moreover, the application is required to be made promptly and within three months, so any unnecessary delay could be fatal to the process, even though the three-month deadline is met.聽 Approval must be sought from the LSRP before starting a JR.