Increasingly, people are talking about a world where face-to-face consultation is no longer an option. Now this might seem extreme and of course people will always want to attend face-to-face meetings. But what if the default position is digital first and the face-to-face aspects of public consultation are the minor ones? What does this mean for the law of consultation and avoiding successful claims for judicial review – on the grounds that a consultation was flawed or unfair?
Well do not fear. Potentially a digital first approach to consultation will help public bodies to stick to the letter of the law and adhere to the legal principles like Gunning One, Two, Three and Four.
Gunning Principles
Just in case you didn’t already know, in the UK, public bodies can’t just go ahead and make unfair or irrational decisions without possible comeback. Rather, they can be taken to court by the public and their representatives and held to account by the Judiciary. The Gunning Principles are the founding legal principles applicable to public consultation in the UK.
They were first laid down in 1985 by Mr Stephen Sedley QC and have stood the test of time in successive court judgements, making them applicable to all public consultations that take place in the UK.
They consist of four principles, which if followed, are designed to make consultation fair and lawful:
They consist of four principles, which if followed, are designed to make consultation fair and lawful:
Gunning 1 – Consultation must be at a time when proposals are still at a formative stage.
Gunning 2 – Sufficient reasons must be put forward for any proposal to permit “intelligent consideration” and response
Gunning 3 – Adequate time is given for consideration and response
Gunning 4 – The product of consultation is conscientiously taken into account by the decision maker(s)
Originally Published in Gunning Principles
