The Supreme Court allowed an appeal in a dispute over a pupil’s exclusion from a secondary school after an expulsion decision had taken effect.
In a judgment delivered on 10 April 2024, Chief Justice O’Donnell said he agreed with the judgments of Hogan and Collins JJ. that the appeal should be allowed. He added observations on the legal context and the limits of what the case decided.
The case concerned an alleged school decision not to permit the pupil to attend after the expulsion took effect. The Chief Justice noted that the challenge and its grounds had initially been unclear. The pupil also sought admission or readmission while a statutory appeal under section 29 of the Education Act 1998 was pending.
The Chief Justice described the relationship between a school and pupil as essentially a matter of private law, despite state funding and regulation of schools. He said the 1998 Act did not regulate schools’ disciplinary decisions, which were matters for each school, but section 29 provides for a statutory appeal procedure alongside the procedure adopted by the school.
Whether the alleged refusal to allow the pupil to return was a public-law decision was not argued, and the Chief Justice did not decide that question. He stressed that the judgment should not be taken to mean that judicial review will always be available for school disciplinary or other decisions; that question would require argument and analysis in the circumstances of a particular case.
He also noted that the parties had not argued whether the High Court’s approach was required by Order 84 of the Rules of the Superior Courts. He left any question about the limits of the rules-making function for a case where it must be decided.
The Chief Justice agreed with the judgments of Hogan and Collins JJ. and with the order they proposed. The source excerpt does not state the terms of that order.