Government plans to weaken access to judicial reviews will damage women fleeing domestic abuse, access to education, and climate accountability, a community law centre has said. Community Law & Mediation are the latest body to hit out at the proposals contained in the Civil Reform Bill, and said the judicial review system, as it currently exists, is a “vital last resort” for people to challenge wrong decisions, uphold their rights, and hold the State to account. “Weakening judicial review will not improve efficiency, it will instead entrench poor decision-making and reduce accountability in public bodies,” its chief executive Aoife Kelly-Desmond said. “In line with recent statements by Government, the minister identifies judicial review as a barrier to the delivery of key infrastructure and housing,” it said. “[We also] issued judicial review proceedings challenging the lawfulness of a local authority’s refusal of our client’s application for a priority transfer,” it said.

Source: Irish Examiner March 29, 2026 16:00 UTC