Law v National Greyhound Racing Club [1983] 1 WLR 1302

Defendant, a company, ran several greyhound racing stadiums and it decided to suspend Plaintiff’s trainer licence.

Plaintiff sought a declaration that the decision was ultra vires and in breach of an implied term of an agreement between them that Defendant’s decisions would be reasonable.

Defendant asked to have the case struck out on the grounds that the Supreme Court Act s.31 says that the application should have been made by judicial review, which this was not.

CA rejected the striking out motion since the authority of Defendant derived wholly from a contract between it and Plaintiff’s status was that of a domestic tribunal albeit their decisions might affect the public, so that the process of judicial review would not have been open to the plaintiff.

• S.31 Supreme Court Act (SCA) did not give the courts the power to review, by any order, the decision of a domestic tribunal, but rather applied only to public law.