These were 3 cases where the secretary of state granted planning permission himself under various statutes, and local protesters argued that this breached their convention rights to have civil rights and obligations determined by an independent and impartial tribunal, under Article 6 of ECHR. HL said these powers were subject to judicial review which would be by an independent tribunal so that the actual powers conferred on the secretary of state were NOT in breach of article 6 ECHR.
Lord Slynn: He says that the time has come to recognise proportionality as a principle of English administrative law, with or without the HRA. “Trying to keep the Wednesbury principle and proportionality in separate compartments seems to me to be unnecessary and confusing.”
