Martin Partington: Spotlight on the Justice System

Judicial review and Covid-19: reflections on the role of crowdfunding

Sam Guy – MA Social Research student and incoming ESRC-funded PhD candidate at the University of York

The Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been subject to significant numbers of judicial review challenges, many of which have been financed using crowdfunding. These cases, and the public’s responses to them, illuminate some of the opportunities and threats posed by this resource as a form of judicial review funding.

Crowdfunding as responsive collective action

There are at least two benefits of crowdfunding that have become particularly apparent in the pandemic. Firstly, it can offer a quick and expedient method for claimants to raise money towards potentially otherwise unaffordable litigation. The current environment for public interest judicial reviews is one of scarce state funding and high costs risk. Into this context, crowdfunding provides an alternative, democratised source of funding. As a result…