The use of empirically based information when reforming and evaluating judicial review

This chapter traces the availability and use of empirically based evidence relating to judicial review in England and Wales. It considers how such evidence has been used by reformers of judicial review and those concerned to evaluate the effectiveness of reforms. Attitudes to empirical and statistical data have changed significantly since the early 20th century and the chapter traces this change in the context of judicial review. It is structured around the following phases: from the 1930s to the early 1960s which was typified by the absence of empirically based evidence and scepticism amongst legal academics regarding the value of such evidence; from the early 1960s to the mid-1980s during which the value of empirical evidence on judicial review emerged; the 1980s to the mid-2000s which saw a significant growth in the available empirical evidence; and finally, the period from the mid-2000s during which empirical and statistical evidence took centre stage when governments used statistically based justifications for limiting access to judicial review.