Mercury Communications Ltd v Director General of Telecommunications [1996] 1WLR 4s, HL
Citation:Mercury Communications Ltd v Director General of Telecommunications [1996] 1WLR 4s, HL
Rule of thumb:If the Government/public services owes you money, can you sue them in the Civil Courts, or is it the administrative Courts? Typically, if the Government owes you money, this should be raised in the civil Courts rather than the administrative Courts. The administrative Courts are more for injunctions, quashing and specific implement about how the public services are to be run. This is a general rule and there is a grey area there.
Background facts:
The facts of this case were that licensing fees being charged by the Director General were being challenged.
Judgment:
The law was affirmed that when there is a dispute over money between the Government body and a private citizen then the matter can be raised in the civil Courts, as damages are typically not awarded in judicial review actions, and if the matter is purely to get the government to carry out their duties in a certain with no direct money involved then judicial review should be used. It was further affirmed that in these circumstances the civil Courts can be used to challenge these on the grounds of the charge being levied potentially being a breach of public policy, which is a private law matter, rather than this having to be challenged through a judicial review.
Ratio-decidendi:
‘In the absence of the single procedure allowing all remedies-quashing, injunctive and declaratory relief, damages-some flexibility as to the use of different procedures is necessary. It has to be borne in mind that the overriding question is whether the proceedings constitute an abuse of the process of the court.’ Lord Slynn
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.