Natasha Barnes appeared on behalf of the UK COVID-19 Inquiry in judicial review proceedings brought by The Traveller Movement, a charity representing Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people. The Traveller Movement has been granted Core Participant status in the Inquiry but now sought to challenge the Chair’s decision to refuse to grant funding for legal representation at the upcoming hearings. The charity argued that the Chair had failed to properly consider the test for a grant of funding; namely whether Traveller Movement was a substantial body or, in the alternative, whether there were special circumstances justifying a grant of funding. The charity also argued that the Chair’s decision was flawed by a failure to give proper reasons and was procedurally unfair. Following a hearing, Chamberlain J refused Traveller Movement permission to apply for Judicial Review on all grounds.
The judgment can be accessed here and it provides broad guidance for the approach the Courts should take to challenges to funding decisions made by inquiries.
