Jack Straw, former foreign and home secretary under Tony Blair, has criticized the increasing use of judicial reviews and public law as obstacles to government policy, particularly in immigration and asylum matters. Speaking in support of a report by the ThinkLabour think tank, Straw argued that the surge in legal challenges has impeded effective decision-making and called for a reduction in the judiciary’s influence over political decisions.
The report, authored by Amelia Wood, a member of Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham’s transition team, highlights a sharp rise in immigration-related judicial reviews, which the authors say are obstructing efforts to remove foreign offenders from the UK. It recommends reforming judicial review procedures to accelerate the process and restrict the grounds on which legal challenges can be successfully mounted. The report also suggests empowering courts to offer clearer guidance when cases are dismissed on procedural issues.
Straw noted that since the 1970s there has been a marked increase in public law actions, encompassing employment, equality, asylum, immigration, and human rights disputes. He contended that the proliferation of judicial interventions has disrupted timely governance on a range of issues, from immigration to major infrastructure projects, and warned that such procedural focus is eroding democratic accountability.
The former cabinet minister emphasized the need to return more authority to elected officials rather than courts, stating that political decision-making is being unduly constrained by legal technicalities. “Little wonder that public frustration with our system of government is as high as it is,” he wrote in the foreword to the report.
The report calls for ending all statutory consultation requirements, suggesting that public feedback would be better gathered through elections rather than mandated policy consultations. It further advises the government to prioritize primary objectives in public service delivery rather than secondary targets, such as ambitious environmental goals in the NHS or biodiversity commitments in prison construction.
Current Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has expressed similar concerns, vowing to curb “vexatious, last-minute claims” and promising reforms to how the European Convention on Human Rights and Modern Slavery Act are applied. Her aim is to facilitate the removal of failed asylum seekers, a longstanding challenge cited by both Conservative and Labour officials.
The report also welcomed recent remarks from Louise Haigh, Chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster, who criticized procurement procedures as overly focused on bureaucratic “tick-box exercises” and called for reforms that emphasize job creation. Collectively, these voices underscore a governmental push to streamline decision-making processes by limiting judicial interference and red tape in policy implementation.