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Part of our key issue: Holding power to account
Case

Fight for transparency

The High Court has now ruled “The Secretary of State acted unlawfully by failing to comply with the Transparency Policy” and that “there is now no dispute that, in a substantial number of cases, the Secretary of State breached his legal obligation to publish Contract Award Notices within 30 days of the award of contracts.”

Good Law Project is a not for profit campaign organisation that uses the law for a better world.

We know that the law, in the right hands, can be a fair and decent force for good. It is a practical tool for positive change and can make amazing things happen.

The law is clear, mandatory and unconditional: regulation 50 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 gives Government 30 days to publish details of contracts. But Government is routinely ignoring the law.

Together with a cross-party group of MPs – Caroline Lucas (Green), Debbie Abrahams (Labour) and Layla Moran (LibDem) – we have launched legal action against Government for its persistent and unlawful failure to disclose details of COVID-related contracts. You can read the pre-action protocol letter here.

We have instructed Deighton Pierce Glynn, Jason Coppel QC and Christopher Knight to try and secure transparency in the public interest. They will work at considerably below market rates.

Timeline:
6th October 2020: Witness Statement of Debbie Abrahams MP: available here
6th October 2020: Witness Statement of Caroline Lucas MP: available here
6th October 2020: Witness Statement of Layla Moran MP: available here
7th October 2020: Court bundle: available here
30th October 2020: Defendant’s Summary Grounds of Resistance: available here
26th November 2020: Detailed Grounds of Resistance : available here
9th December 2020: Draft Consent Order extending case management directions to 11 January 2021: available here
11th January 2021: Claimants’ N244 Application Notice: available here
11th January 2021: Second Witness Statement of Jolyon Maugham QC: available here
27th January 2021: Email evidence: available here, here, here, and here
28th January 2021: Skeleton argument: available here
2nd February 2021: Claimants’ Statement of Costs: available here
2nd February 2021: Defendant’s Skeleton Argument: available here
3rd February 2021: Summary of hearing: available here
19th February 2021: High Court Judgment: available here

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Good Law Project is a not for profit campaign organisation that uses the law for a better world.

We know that the law, in the right hands, can be a fair and decent force for good. It is a practical tool for positive change and can make amazing things happen.

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