In R(B) v Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, the High Court today upheld a decision of the OIA that the subject matter of the complaint – the soundness of a decision of the University of Leicester’s Fitness to Practise Committee that the claimant was not fit to practise as a doctor – related to the same subject matter of earlier civil proceedings relating to the procedural fairness of the same FtPC decision, and was therefore ineligible to be considered by the OIA. In doing so, the Court held that the decision on eligibility was one for the Court to decide for itself on the merits, not one to be reviewed only on Wednesbury grounds, a decision which may affect not only the ease of overturning such decisions by the OIA, but also other Ombudsmen’s decisions as to whether a complaint can be considered, many of which have similar exceptions in their scheme rules. To view the judgment in full, please see here.
Paul Skinner was involved in the case.