Judicial review is rarely appropriate when criminal proceedings are ongoing

PRivy Council
Published on October 7, 2024
Director of Public Prosecutions v. Durham and others
Before Lord Reed, Lord Hodge, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Briggs and Lady Carr, Lady Chief Justice
[2024] UKPC 21
Judgment of July 18, 2024

Defendants should rarely be allowed to use judicial review to stave off the threat of prosecution. Judicial review of a prosecutor’s decision was a highly exceptional remedy for matters that could not be adequately resolved within the criminal proceedings themselves.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (the Board) has decided this and upheld an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions of Trinidad and Tobago (DPP) against the decision of the Court of Appeal of Trinidad and Tobago dated June 6, 2022 (Chief Justice Archie and Justice of