By Evarist Baimu Nyaga Mawalla - Home

though there were numerous conflicting opinions on what the “plain meaning” was, andthough a minority of their lordships were prepared to hold that there was an impliedexception for fraud. It cannot be often that the House of Lords decides an appeal withoutany mention of the main principle of law which ought to be in issue. Had referred onlybeen made to the decisions holding that a no certiorari clause will not bar certiorari incase of fraud the whole case would have been put in a different light.In the Anisminic case their lordships have now repudiated the East Elloe case, for thevery reason that the relevant case-law was never cited. But at the same time they havestressed the similarity of all variety of ouster clauses, including those which operate onlyafter a prescribed period of time. Thus the way now lies open for challenging all sorts ofplanning, housing, compulsory purchase and other orders after the prescribed six weeks,on any of the many grounds which go to jurisdiction. But then there will be a fresh set ofproblems, for what is to happen if a compulsory purchase order is shown to be a nullityafter a housing estate or a motorway have been built on the land with the expenditure ofmuch public money? In cases of this kind there are genuine reasons for setting a timelimit to legal disputes. On the other hand it is generally thought that the six weeks periodis unreasonable short.Another problem is that the legislature has taken to using these six weeks ouster clausesmore or less indiscriminately. It cannot possibly be necessary to set so severe a timelimit to questioning all the miscellaneous varieties of planning orders which are soprotected by Part XI of the town and country planning Act 1962. another example is themedicines Act 1968, which forbids questioning after three months of the validity ofdecisions of the licensing authority for medicinal products or of the Minister’scertificate that pharmacist’ premises are unsuitable for registration. A six weeks it melimit was first proposed in the Bill. The Council on Tribunals succeeded in obtaining itsextension to three months, but they still proliferate alarmingly, and it is surely necessaryto review the whole situation and to confine them to the special cases where they may bejustifiable. This should be one aspect of the general reform of remedies in administrativelaw which is now needed.68