Sioned Wyn Roberts and Toby Vanhegan comment on the role of legitimate expectation in a successful judicial review involvng a domestic violence survivor and her child
Using an under-deployed legal argument that a local housing authority was in breach of legitimate expectation, we recently successfully represented a client in a claim for judicial review on behalf of a domestic abuse victim.
In The Queen (on the application of C) v London Borough of Waltham Forest, it was argued that not only was the authority in breach of legitimate expectation, but it also contravened its allocations policy and the statutory duty to promote the best interest and welfare of a child pursuant to section 11 of the Children Act 2004.
Facts in brief
The claimant (C) is a lone parent and was fleeing severe domestic violence from a one-bedroom property where she held a secure tenanc...