ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

1. Evaluate the meaning of the ‘red light’, ‘green light’ and ‘rights based’ theories. Which theory
would you consider to be the most relevant theory in light of the pandemic that has swept
across the UK this year.

2. Critically analyse whether the rules of natural justice are adequately flexible.

3. Critically examine the nature and purpose of Administrative law - to what extent can it be
distinguished from Constitutional law and why?
4. Explain the concepts and theories that the nature and purpose of administrative law hinge
upon, and evaluate how these have shaped administrative law in the UK.

ELECTORAL SYSTEMS
1. Evaluate the various electoral systems that exist and explain the current preference to the
first-past-the-post system. How can the system be reformed?

2. Evaluate the contemporary and continuing concerns in relation to effective enfranchisement

in the UK and provide an account on the reforms needed for democracy to be upheld more
effectively.

3. Critically evaluate who has sufficient interest in a judicial review application. Can it include
the general public? Provide reasons for your answer.

4. One of the main guarantees of the democratic autonomy of citizens is the principle of
universal and equal suffrage. Explain and critically evaluate how the franchise has developed
in the UK to attempt to achieve this guarantee.

5. Under the Child Adoption Act 2007, responsibility for overseeing the adoption of children in
Britain is handled by the Minister of Family Affairs. By virtue of this Act, the Minister may
approve an adoption provided that the applicant is able to provide ‘suitable care’ for the
adoptee. The Minister published guidelines on how an applicant would be considered to be a
suitable adoptive parent to the child. The guidelines stipulate that the applicant must earn at
least 20,000 pounds per annum, must be a permanent resident of the UK and have no
previous criminal convictions.

Philip would like to adopt a child but only has an income of 15,000 pounds per annum. He
applies to Family Joy, a charity which provides support to families in need of financial
support. Family Joy has been providing support for adoptive parents in financial need for
more than 10 years. Philip’s application for funding however is rejected, the reason being
that the charity does not support single adoptive parents.

Barack is also intending to adopt a child as he and his wife Susan have been wanting a child
for some time now. Barack and Susan’s household income reaches the 20,000 pounds per
 annum requirement. Both are citizens of the UK and have no previous convictions. Barack
has a particular child he would like to adopt. His family in Kenya are destitute. Barack’s sister
living in Kenya has a two year old toddler whom she has been considering giving up for
adoption as she cannot manage looking after the boy any longer.

Barack and Susan decide to adopt the boy who is after all their nephew. They fill up all the
necessary forms provided by the Department of Family Affairs meticulously. Following all
guidelines and instructions carefully, they receive verbal confirmation that the adoption will
go through smoothly and their nephew will be able to live with them in about a month’s
time. Excited, they prepare all the necessary items for the boy and purchase the tickets to go
to Kenya to collect him. Two days before departure, they receive word from the Department
of Family Affairs that there are a few more forms to be filled and clearance to go through via
the Home Office since the boy is not from the UK. These are new requirements and will set
Barack and Susan back by about nine months before these applications go through.

Philip, Barack and Susan are very upset and come to you for advice as to whether they can
take any action against the authorities that they were dealing with. Write two separate
opinions explaining the process and the likelihood of success for both hopeful parents.

JUDICIAL REVIEW
1. Discuss how judicial review has developed in the 21st century to become a robust means of
controlling the exercise of governmental power.

2. Evaluate the manner in which the concept of reasonableness has evolved over the years.

3. The recently established Council of Zumba Instructors (CZI) was set up to assess and control
those who wished to be Zumba instructors. If applicants had not passed the assessment and
were not admitted to the professional register of the CZI, they could not advertise and
practice as a Zumba instructor. Louisa applied for such an assessment, but the CZI on 9th
November 2017, refused to hear her application as they had been told that she had no
experience at all. She attempted to use the CZI internal appeal system, but her application
was refused on 11th December 2017. She is one of a number of such complainants and they
formed a group called the Association of Trainee Instructors (ATI) to represent the interest of
such trainees instructors.

Both Louisa and ATI, on 12th March 2018, seek your advice as to whether they could bring a
judicial review claim against CZI. Explain to your clients the conditions and grounds in which
the courts will grant judicial review in these circumstances.
4. Under the (fictitious) Environmental Quality Act 2017, a Committee of Investigation was
established to make inquiries, if the minister ‘so directed’ into complaints made to the
minister concerning the emission of greenhouse gases within the UK. Residents of a
particular housing estate in South West England complained that the local council had
allowed a particular group of companies owned by Shrump Co. to emit the dangerous
greenhouse gases through its various factories located in South West England.

The minister refused to refer the matter to the Committee of Investigation. The residents
now come to you asking whether they can challenge the minister’s decision. Advise the
residents of the housing estate as to what they could do in these circumstances. Provide a
step-by-step guidance as to how the residents would apply for judicial review.

5. ‘It would, in my view, be a grave lacuna in our system of public law if a pressure group, like
the federation, or even a single public-spirited taxpayer, were prevented by outdated
technical rules of locus standi from bringing the matter to the attention of the court to
vindicate the rule of law and get the unlawful conduct stopped.’

Lord Diplock, R v Inland Revenue Commissioners ex parte National Federation of Self

Employed and Small Businesses

Critically evaluate the extent to which rules of locus standi limit the availability of judicial
review in the UK.

6. Global sea levels are rising at an alarming rate and have caused sea levels around the coast
of the UK to rise. This has made current sea defences ineffective. In view of this, the UK
government has decided that in certain vulnerable areas, no further attempts will be made
to protect the area from flooding. Instead, a scheme has been established to pay
compensation to property owners as their land becomes unusable. The government has
decided to establish a committee to determine the level of compensation to be awarded.
Boris and his family have suffered the consequences of flooding in the area in which they
reside. They were very unhappy with the level of compensation that had been awarded by
the committee and were thinking about their course of action for almost a year. They finally
decide to come to you for advice as to what they could do in these circumstances.

Advise them on the option of judicial review.

7. The National Health Act 2017 (fictitious) provides that District Health Authorities ‘are under a
duty to maintain adequate hospital beds and services to ensure the protection and
maintenance of the health of residents in the area’.
 In May 2019, the Northwest Health Authority, in an effort to cut costs, decided to close two
hospital wards usually reserved for elderly patients requiring long term care, and a ward
containing ten beds reserved for patients in need of post cancer treatment care.

In June 2019, Mr. Arnold, who is elderly and has no living relatives to care for him, was
admitted to the Care Hospital, a national health service hospital in the Northwest district. In
July 2019, however, Ms. Joanna, a hospital administrator, notified Mr. Arnold that he would
have to leave the hospital within three days, even though he could not care for himself.

In July 2019, Shelley was diagnosed with lung cancer. The Care Hospital has refused to admit
Shelley after she underwent her chemotherapy due to the shortage of beds. Shelley was
terribly noxious after the treatment and vomited continuously back home. She fears going
for her next chemotherapy as she will not be getting the appropriate after care.

Advise Mr. Arnold and Ms. Shelley as to whether they are entitled to seek a remedy by way
of action for judicial review, and as to the likely outcome of any judicial review proceedings.

8. Joe Gardner needs some advice. He has a degenerative illness and is currently being cared
for by his elderly mother. The local authority arranges transport once a week to take him to a
daycare facility a few kilometres away from home so that his mother can have some respite.
The Gardners do not have a car and it's impossible for Joe to take public transport due to this
disability.

Last week Joe Gardner was notified that the daycare facility was one of the facilities selected
for closure. A place has been provided as an alternative facility which is more than thirty
kilometres away from home. Joe’s mother telephoned the facility to find out the time they
would pick Joe up, but was informed that due to the distance of more than thirty kilometres,
there would be no pickup. The policy has a maximum cut-off limit of thirty kilometres for
free transportation.

The Local Authority (Care for the Disabled) Act 2000 (fictitious) stipulates as follows:
‘The authority has a duty to provide adequate support for patients with long term health
care needs, and their carers. Facilities should be available that are appropriate and accessible
to patients and their carers. In determining the appropriate provision, the authority may
consider such factors as appearing relevant’.

Joe feels that the decision to close the day care facility is absurd and wants to know whether
he can challenge the decision in court. He would like compensation for the price of taxi fares
to and from the new centre as well as damages for his distress.

How would you advise Joe Gardner? Provide your answer based on relevant laws and cases.
9. There are two administrative law cases on medical doctors that you have been tasked to
handle by your supervisor. The first relates to Dr. Alan and the second relates to Dr Naomi. Dr
Alan was suspended from medical practice by the General Medical Council indefinitely for
failing to reveal that his girlfriend tested positive for the Covid-19 virus. He had gone on to
see patients in his clinic in spite of the fact that he had also visited his girlfriend at her home.
Dr Alan feels that the suspension is unfair as he was at all times free of the virus. He claims
that as a doctor, he knows his body very well and took all necessary precautions to ensure
that he was free of the virus.

Dr Alan is also upset by the fact that he was not given an opportunity to verbally explain
himself before the Council made its decision. He was only expected to provide a reply to the
allegations made against him via email. On top of that, the letter indicating his suspension
did not provide reasons for suspension. He was told that the suspension could run for as long
as 5 years.

Dr Naomi on the other hand was asked to temporarily be transferred from Kensington
Hospital in London to Freeman Hospital in Newcastle due to the surge of Covid 19 cases in
Newcastle. Dr Naomi refused to go as she has two young children who needed to be cared
for at home. Another reason for her refusal was that she had inside information that the
situation in Newcastle was really bad. The health workers there had insufficient hazmat suits.
Even masks were not replenished daily. On top of that, 10% of the health workers were
already infected with the deadly virus. Dr Naomi received this information via text sent to
her by her cousin.

Due to her refusal to serve in Newcastle, Dr Naomi was called up by the General Medical
Council as well. She gives her family as the reason for not wanting to transfer but omits to
say anything about what she had heard about the situation in Newcastle. She was
reprimanded by the Council for not heeding the National Health Service (NHS) call for help.
She was further informed that due to her insubordination, she would have to be demoted
from senior medical officer to medical officer at the hospital she works in. She is very upset
and goes to your supervisor for advice.

You have been tasked by your supervisor to write one legal opinion which your supervisor
may refer to when she advises both Dr Alan and Dr Naomi. In the process of conducting your
research, you come across some information regarding the situation in Newcastle.
Apparently the situation there was not all that bad and most of the stories that were spread
via social media were actually fake. Write the opinion clearly, explaining the procedural and
substantive aspects of judicial review.

10. Under Section 64(1) of the Fair Trading Act 1973 , the Secretary of State has power to refer a
merger of companies to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission (MMC). the jurisdiction of
the MMC is to consider mergers which result in more than 25 percent of the services being
 supplied by one company ‘in a substantial part of the United Kingdom’. The merger between
Platinum Speed and Splendour Tours, two bus companies resulted in services being provided
in an area which comprised 1.65 per cent of the United Kingdom, with a population 3.2 per
cent of the total United Kingdom population. The merger was referred to the MMC for
investigation but no reasons were given for this reference.

Examine whether the two bus companies would succeed in a judicial review application
against the decision to refer the merger to the MMC for investigation.

MALAYSIAN CONSTITUTION
1. A professor from a renowned UK university has been chosen to present a talk on the
differences between UK and Malaysian constitutional law and has not studied the provisions
of the Malaysian constitution before. She experiences some difficulty in dealing with the
content of the Federal Constitution as it is very different from the unwritten nature of the UK
constitution.

Prepare a paper for the professor, explaining the chief characteristics of the Malaysian
constitution that differ from the UK constitution.

2. According to academician Dr Mavis Puthucheary, nobody knows the real definition of the
‘social contract’. It is sometimes used to refer to the ‘inter-ethnic bargain’ by the leaders of
the parties in the Alliance coalition; but at other times, it is used to refer to Article 153.

This quote was written more than ten years ago. Examine whether the uncertainty in
defining the Malaysian social contract exists today.

3. The ‘grundnorm’ of the Malaysian Legal System differs from that of the UK. discuss this
distinction and its impact on Malaysian Constitutional Law.

4. Critically evaluate the changes that took place to the Federal Constitution of Malaysia when
the federation of ‘Malaya’ was enlarged to become the Federation of ‘Malaysia’.

5. The origin of Constitutional law of Malaysia and the UK have marked distinctions which have
culminated in varied characteristics of the respective constitutions. Discuss the origins and
the distinctions that have arisen in Malaysian and UK constitutional law.

6. With the formation of Malaysia in 1963, special provisions for Sabah and Sarawak were
drafted into the Federal Constitution. As such the people of Sabah and Sarawak enjoy special
rights and safeguards that were placed as conditions before joining the Federation. Explain
these special rights and safeguards and evaluate the adequacy of the same in light of the
balance of power between the Federal and State Governments of Malaysia.
 7. Critically evaluate the significant characteristics of the Constitution of Malaysia.

8. The 20 point agreement has provided the platform from which East Malaysians can enjoy
certain constitutionally guaranteed privileges.

Examine the privileges that have been enshrined in the Federal Constitution.

Federalism in Malaysia
1. The underlying idea of federalism is to combine effective central powers for handling
common or nationwide issues, with preservation of regional distinctiveness. Critically
evaluate to what extent this underlying idea of federalism is preserved in the Federation of
Malaysia.

2. Critically discuss the division of legislative competencies between the Federation and the
States in Malaysia as laid out by Article 74 of the Federal Constitution.

3. Critically evaluate how Unitary and Federal constitutions operate.