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- R. v. North and East Devon Health Authority, ex parte Coughlan is a seminal case decided by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in 1999 which clarified the court's role in relation to cases which involve substantive legitimate expectations. The Court held that when reviewing a decision of a public authority which is contrary to a prior assurance or representation by the authority, its role is not always limited to assessing if the decision is Wednesbury unreasonable or irrational. In some situations, it is entitled to determine whether it is fair to compel the authority to fulfil its representation, or whether there is a sufficient overriding public interest which justifies allowing the authority to depart from the promise made. The case involved a severely disabled lady, Miss Coughlan, who was receiving nursing care in Mardon House, a National Health Service facility managed by the North and East Devon Health Authority. The Authority had made several representations to her that she would be able to live out her days in Mardon House. Subsequently, the Health Authority decided to shut the facility down as the cost of operating it was becoming excessive. Coughlan sought judicial review of the Authority's decision, claiming that its representations had induced in her a legitimate expectation that Mardon House would be her home for life. The Court of Appeal decided the matter in Coughlan's favour. It took into account the importance of the promise to her, and the fact that the consequence to the Health Authority of honouring the promise was merely financial in nature, and while the Authority had agreed to fund the cost of her treatment it had offered no alternative permanent accommodation. In the circumstances, the Court was of the view that for the Authority to frustrate Coughlan's legitimate expectation was so unfair that it amounted to an abuse of power. Furthermore, there were no overriding public interest considerations to justify the Authority's decision. The Court distinguished Coughlan's situation from one where an authority had not given an express promise but had only made a representation that an individual was entitled to be treated in a manner consistent with a policy in force at the time. In this situation, the authority is only compelled to take into account its previous position or the representation made to the individual before deciding how it should proceed, and if it has done so the court may only determine if the authority acted in a Wednesbury-unreasonable manner. (en)
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- [2001] Q.B. 213, [2000] 2 W.L.R. 622, [2000] 3 All E.R. 850, 51 B.M.L.R. 1, [1999] Lloyd's Rep. Med. 306, 97 L.G.R. 703 (en)
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- Regina v. North and East Devon Health Authority, ex parte Coughlan (en)
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- Lord Woolf M.R.; Mummery and Sedley L.JJ. (en)
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- R. v. North and East Devon Health Authority, ex parte Coughlan is a seminal case decided by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in 1999 which clarified the court's role in relation to cases which involve substantive legitimate expectations. The Court held that when reviewing a decision of a public authority which is contrary to a prior assurance or representation by the authority, its role is not always limited to assessing if the decision is Wednesbury unreasonable or irrational. In some situations, it is entitled to determine whether it is fair to compel the authority to fulfil its representation, or whether there is a sufficient overriding public interest which justifies allowing the authority to depart from the promise made. (en)
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- R. v. North and East Devon Health Authority, ex parte Coughlan (en)
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