Patricia Stephenson (Social Democrats)

Ms Denning touched on this already but I want to put on record that people have a right to challenge decisions. I know she knows that but there can be quite a negative narrative as well around judicial reviews. Obviously, people have a right to challenge planning decisions and we do have planning decisions which are sometimes bad for communities. It is really important to highlight that constitutional right. I am glad Ms Denning touched on that as well in her reply to somebody else. Particularly with the Aarhus Convention and for the environmental justice piece, it is really fundamental. Ms Denning said this herself but for other members, I warn against the use of expediting cases as a standard process.

In some instances, that limits fair access to justice by restricting hearings. It is fine in a special case, but if it were to be rolled out across the board as a sort of solution to the backlog, I think that would be limiting. I do not know if Ms Denning wishes to comment on this, but I think it would limit access to justice.