A tale of two cases – Two High Court judgments on the pre-determination of consultation – within a week

Court cases are very seldom lost on the mechanics of a public consultation.

But increasingly, dissatisfied consultees are challenging public bodies by alleging that the consultation is a sham and that decisions have effectively already been taken. It’s called pre-determination, and the advent of two quite separate cases – one on NHS service changes and another on Library closures – is an opportunity to reflect upon the state of the law … especially as they produced quite different results.