Judicial Miss Behavin’: a Defence of Process-Based Review of Public Authority Decisions under the HRA

This paper analyses the unanimous decision of the House of Lords in R (Begum) v Governors of Denbigh High School and to a lesser extent the later decision in Miss Behavin’ v. Belfast City Council. It considers the three reasons given by Lord Bingham in Begum to support his view that where decision-makers take no account of the human rights implications of their decision, the decision will not for that reason alone be struck down. The view of the House – what matters is the practical outcome not the quality of the decision-making process – is scrutinised and a defence of process-based review of public authority decision-making under the HRA is offered from several perspectives – particularly from a policy & practical viewpoint – for consideration.