About Public Law
As a government lawyer your clients are experiencing various impacts on policy making from numerous and competing interests such as austerity, efficiency, collective/individual rights, European and devolved/delegated jurisdictions. Your job advising on legislation and risk of challenge through judicial review is increasingly time consuming and complex.
Brexit
With reform of retained EU law high on the agenda, post-Brexit legal changes remains a key issue. Get key information and updates for all practitioners, with practice area specific Brexit content across the modules.
Judicial Review
We outline the key principles and procedural requirements with a clear focus on the public sector perspective. The content focusses primarily on judicial review in the Administrative Court in England and Wales.
Public Procurement
Failure to stick to procedures can have significant legal, financial and practical consequences for a contracting authority. We guide you through various processes, focussing on the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
Expertise on all matters
An essential resource providing guidance & materials on core legal subjects relevant to lawyers in all areas of legal practice, as well as specialist content designed to assist government lawyers in a range of key areas
Topics We Cover
Latest Public Law News
The House of Lords Library has published a briefing on the House of Lords (Peerage Nominations) Bill, a private member's bill sponsored by Lord Norton...
A round-up of key developments on State aid, first reported by the Lexis+ Competition team. This update covers the period 5-11 March 2025....
The Cabinet Office has published Procurement Policy Note PPN 019: Requirements to publish on Contracts Finder. This Procurement Policy Note (PPN) and...
The European Commission has released updated model contractual clauses for artificial intelligence (AI) procurement on 5 March 2025, revising the...
The House of Lords Constitution Committee has launched an inquiry into the rule of law, seeking written evidence from experts and organisations. The...
Latest Public Law Practice Notes
Joint Decision for Windsor Package to commenceThis Practice Note provides practical guidance on the Joint Committee Decision No 1/2023 which gives...
The Windsor Framework—trade between Northern Ireland, the UK and EUIntroductionOn 27 February 2023 UK Prime Minster Rishi Sunak and EU Commission...
Coronavirus (COVID-19)—legislation tracker [Archived]ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained.This Practice Note tracks...
Environmental impact assessments—key pointsSTOP PRESS: The Planning and Infrastructure Bill was published on 11 March 2025. This content is being...
Brexit timelineOn 23 June 2016, the UK held a referendum on its membership of the EU, with a majority voting in favour of the UK leaving the EU. On 29...
Latest Public Law Precedents
Deed of variationThis Deed is made on [date]Parties1[insert name of party] [of OR a company incorporated in [England and Wales] under number [insert...
Retained EU law—training materials [Archived]ARCHIVED: This Precedent has been archived and is not maintained.These training materials consist of...
Exclusivity agreement—commercial contractsThis Agreement is made on [date]Parties1[insert name of party] [of OR a company incorporated in [England and...
Privacy policy—general commercial organisation—customer-facingWe take your privacy very seriously. Please read this privacy policy carefully as it...
Intellectual property internal audit questionnaireIntroduction:This questionnaire relates to the intellectual property (IP) audit being supervised by...
Latest Public Law Q&As
Featured Public Law content
Methods of statutory interpretation used to resolve disputes about the meaning of legislation
Methods of statutory interpretation used to resolve disputes about the meaning of legislationIntroduction to statutory interpretationThe aim of...
Sources of constitutional law
Sources of constitutional lawIn briefThe British constitution is unwritten in the sense that it does not derive from a single constitutional text. It...
Direct effect of EU law
Direct effect of EU lawWhat is direct effect of EU law?The doctrine of direct effect is a fundamental principle of EU law developed by the Court of...
Convention rights—structure of qualified rights
Convention rights—structure of qualified rightsThe rights preserved under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), as set out in the Human...
Separation of powers—legislative, executive and judiciary
Separation of powers—legislative, executive and judiciarySource of the doctrine of the separation of powersThe origins of the doctrine of the...
What is a public authority?
What is a public authority?There is no single, universal answer to the question whether a particular organisation is treated, in law, as a public...
Structure and functions of EU institutions and bodies
Structure and functions of EU institutions and bodiesThe EU’s unique institutional frameworkThe European Union is a supranational polity, and is...
Harmonisation
HarmonisationDefinitionHarmonisation, also known as standardisation or approximation, refers to the determination of EU-wide legally binding standards...
What is fettering of discretion in judicial review? When is it an actionable ground of challenge and what must be established for a challenge to succeed?
The status of EU law in the UK after Brexit [Archived]
The status of EU law in the UK after Brexit [Archived]ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained.This Practice Note provides...
Indirect effect of EU law
Indirect effect of EU lawWhat is indirect effect of EU law?The doctrine of indirect effect, or consistent interpretation, is a duty that national...
What is Wednesbury unreasonableness?
Parliamentary supremacy—implied repeal
Parliamentary supremacy—implied repealEssential to Parliament’s legislative supremacy is the principle that Parliament is not bound by its...
The executive and the civil service
The executive and the civil serviceWhat is a civil servant?A civil servant is any permanent, non-political employee of central government—servants of...
What is the EU infringement procedure under Article 258 TFEU and how can proceedings be monitored?
EU internal competence
EU internal competenceThe limits of EU competencesThe limits of EU competences are governed by the principle of conferral (also known as principle of...
Free movement of EU workers and citizens
Free movement of EU workers and citizensEU workers and EU citizens enjoy the right of freedom of movement. This right is granted to EU workers in...
The four freedoms—goods, services, establishment and capital
The four freedoms—goods, services, establishment and capitalFree movement of goodsRestriction on importsScope of the prohibitionArticle 34 of the...
Associated legal terms
American Standard Code for Information Inter exchange
A uniform code used in computer and data communications systems. ASCII code letters, numbers, punctuation and actual control systems in digital codes of '0s' and '1s'. For example, the capital 'C' is 100011 and a '3' is 0110011.
Numbering conventions
A set of rules and principles relating to the use and management of numbers from a national numbering scheme.
Unofficial committee
Committees used on a temporary basis, especially in the US (often contrasted to formal committees) with no rights to formal recognition.
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