Lord chancellor Chris Grayling will return to the House of Commons next week to persuade MPs to approve his plans for judicial review.
The Criminal Justice and Courts Bill will return to the commons for what is termed as ‘ping pong’ after the House of Lords blocked its progress last month.
Peers voted for two amendments as it emerged Grayling (pictured) had misled parliament during a commons debate the week before.
In a letter to Conservative MP Geoffrey Cox, who voted against the government, the justice secretary admitted he had ‘inadvertently’ suggested that clause 64 of the bill contains a provision for the court to grant permission for JR where conduct was highly likely to have not made a difference in ‘exceptional circumstances’.
Graying’s letter added: ‘I would like to take this opportunity to clarify that that is not the case. No such exceptional circumstances provision exists in this clause.’
The government wants to change current judicial review rules to make third-party interveners liable for costs and to prevent judges from granting permission for JR even if the public authority has acted unlawfully, if the outcome would have been the same if they had acted lawfully.
The bill will return to the House of Commons on Tuesday and Labour are expected to again force through a vote on suggested Lords amendments.
During justice questions on December 16, Grayling said he intended to return to parliament in the new year with ‘further thoughts on how we take matters forward’.
The Law Society and Bar Council are among a number of groups to have publicly opposed the government plans for judicial review.
Labour have accused Grayling of attempted to ‘muzzle’ judicial review and urged the government to abandon plans.
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