Current status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 15 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the time limit for potential judicial review regarding planning consent in Scotland is 12 weeks, in light of it reportedly being six weeks in England.
The law underpinning judicial review of administrative action in Scotland is devolved and within the control of the Scottish Parliament. Judicial review functions are within the framework of Scots administrative law, with the power held by the Court of Session.
The time limit for judicial review is set out in the Court of Session Act 1988. The Act provides a three-month time limit for actions to be brought and where it is equitable to do so, allows the court to accept petitions out with this time limit.
The three-month time limit was introduced via the Court Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, following consultation, as this struck an appropriate balance of avoiding unnecessary delay whilst maintaining access to justice.
While the three-month time limit is the ‘standard’ period for bringing a judicial review, the 2014 Act allows for different periods to be set for particular cases. This is relevant as the time period for bringing a judicial review against any decision on any planning application or appeal determined by the Scottish Ministers is six weeks. This is set out in section 239 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997.
The substantive laws regarding the grounds of judicial review in Scotland are similar to those in England and Wales, however the Scottish Government will not express a view about the position in England and Wales.