Abies Concolor

by | Mar 20, 2018 | Abies Concolor

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The Good Law Project is a United Kingdom-based political[1] non-profit company. Founded by Jolyon Maugham, the Good Law Project states that its mission is to achieve change through the law.

History

The Good Law Project was founded in January 2017 as a company limited by guarantee under English law[2] headed by Maugham. It is a non-profit but not a registered charity. In 2019 it launched a crowdfunded challenge to the prorogation of Parliament by Boris Johnson's Conservative government, which was ultimately successful. The prorogation was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court,[3] but by this time Johnson's government had pushed through their Brexit deal so the issue was moot. However, the £200,000 raised enabled Good Law Project to hire more staff and launch other fundraisers to take on more cases.

In the 2022 case of Good Law Project & Anor, R (On the Application Of) v The Prime Minister & Anor [2022] EWHC 298 (Admin), the High Court was critical of the Good Law Project "drafting its objects clause so widely that just about any conceivable public law error by any public authority falls within its remit" and was not convinced that "such a general statement of objects" could confer legal standing upon the company; the Court added that it could not be supposed that the company had "carte blanche to bring any claim for judicial review no matter what the issues and no matter what the circumstances." The Good Law Project's lack of standing was not fatal to the case, however, since its Runnymede Trust co-plaintiff was deemed to have standing.[4][5]

Cases

Abingdon Health

The Good Law Project challenged the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, claiming that the COVID testing contracts with Abingdon Health were unlawful because they were not advertised nor open to competition, and the correct procurement process was bypassed. On 7 October 2022 the High Court ruled that the contracts were lawful, so Good Law Project lost the case.[6]

LGB Alliance

In September 2022, the charity Mermaids went to court to appeal the Charity Commission's decision to grant the LGB Alliance charitable status. This action was supported by the Good Law Project.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Good Law Project". The Independent. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  2. ^ "Good Law Project Ltd Companies House Information". gov.uk. UK Government. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  3. ^ Adams, Tim (22 November 2020). "'I don't like acts of dishonesty by the state': Jolyon Maugham QC on Covid cronyism". The Observer.
  4. ^ Tobin, Sam (15 February 2022). "Good Law Project does not have 'carte blanche' to bring JRs, High Court says". The Law Society Gazette.
  5. ^ England and Wales High Court (Administrative Court) (15 February 2022). "Good Law Project & Anor, R (On the Application Of) v The Prime Minister & Anor [2022] EWHC 298 (Admin) (15 February 2022)". British and Irish Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Covid test manufacturer welcomes Good Law Project's legal action failure | TheBusinessDesk.com". Yorkshire. 2022-10-07. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
  7. ^ "Judge to consider trans charity's appeal to strip LGB Alliance of legal status". TheGuardian.com. 9 September 2022.

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