Section 31:
Judicial review
Reforms should be adopted to simplify description of the scope of judicial review and to
simplify the terminology for forms of judicial review relief.
The procedural framework of judicial review proceedings in Hong Kong is currently
SL3 (effective 1 September 1998).
As was mentioned in the Interim Report,
the procedural and substantive rules of
judicial review are intertwined. Substantively, the courts exercise a supervisory
jurisdiction by way of review over the decisions of relevant public authorities. They
do not entertain appeals from such decisions on their merits. Remedies appropriate for
judicial review have accordingly been developed, namely, orders of certiorari,
mandamus and prohibition, supplemented by declarations and injunctions. It is
perhaps not surprising, that given the characteristic use of such remedies in the field of
judicial review, the current approach to identifying the scope of judicial review for
procedural purposes, involves rules which focus on such remedies.
Notes
These provisions are based on those introduced in England and Wales in 1977 in place of the
technical procedures applicable in relation to the prerogative writs: HKCP 2002, 53/14/1.