The preliminary stage of a judicial review should be retained, and in exceptional cases converted into a hearing involving both sides, according to Law Reform Commission recommendations to be published today.
The report also proposes that the general time limit for judicial review applications should be six months, with shorter limits for planning or immigration cases.
A third recommendation is that the fixed period for review applications falling under the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act 2000 should be changed from 14 to 28 days, subject to the same judicial discretion to extend as is the case at present.
Other proposals are that there should be further active judicial case management by the courts, including judicially supervised timetables to ensure quick progress, and that in deciding on costs, courts may make greater use of the power to apportion costs as they deem appropriate.
The Report on Judicial Review Procedure does not deal with the substantive content of laws in areas such as planning or immigration.
However, the Law Reform Commission report does focus on the procedure in the High Court when a decision in a lower court, or a body such as An Bord Pleanála or the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, is challenged.
At present all judicial review applications involve a two-stage process: the preliminary leave stage where a judge must decide that there is an arguable case; and the actual application for judicial review, where all the legal arguments are made by both sides.
There are currently two general time limits (three or six months), depending on the type of case involved.
On the issue of costs, the general principle is that the successful party can claim from the other side.