2.9 Principles of natural justice

Natural justice simply means to make a sensible and reasonable decision making procedure on a particular issue.

Purpose of the principle

To provide equal opportunity of being heard.
Concept of Fairness.
To fulfil the gaps and loopholes of the law.
To protect the Fundamental Rights.
Basic features of the Constitution.
No miscarriage of Justice.

The principles/rules of natural justice

Audi Alteram Partem – which means that no person should be condemned unheard i.e. a person should not be denied an opportunity to be heard.
Nemo Judex in causa sua – which means that procedures must be free from bias.

The two principles are further elaborated below;

c. Prior notice

This rule requires that adequate prior notice be given to a person of any charge or allegation. It simply means that if an administrative body makes a charge it has to give a person against whom allegations have been made adequate notice before a decision is made.

Opportunity to be heard There is no settled rule as to whether hearing should be oral or written but in all cases one must be afforded a chance to present his case whether oral or written.
1. Disclosure of information
A concerned party must be given all information which the decision maker will rely on to make his judgment. This rule requires that all allegations and reports bearing on a person’s case must be disclosed to that person. Failure to do so is fatal to a decision.

In Ridge v. Baldwin the House of Lords held that the Chief Constable of Brighton who held an office, from which by statutory regulations he could only be removed on grounds of neglect of duty or inability, could not validly be dismissed in the absence of the notification of the charge and an opportunity to be heard in his defence. This is one of the key cases in Judicial Review and disclosure of information.
1. Rule against bias
This is when there is some direct interest in the matter to be adjudicated like pecuniary interest;

Where short of a direct interest there is a reasonable appearance or likelihood of bias; where there is actual bias.

In R v. Hendon Rural District Council ex-parte Chorley, the court quashed the decision of a Rural District Council allowing some residential property in Hendon to be converted into a garage and restaurant because one of the councilors who was present at the meeting which approved the application to convert the premises was an Estate Agent who was at the same time acting for the owners of the properties.

The Court issued Certiorari to quash the decision of the council on the ground that the agent’s interest in the business disqualified him from taking part in the council’s consideration of the matter.
1. The right to be heard
This is simply that a concerned person must be given a right to be heard. If an administrative body fails to give a concerned person the right to be heard, whatever decision it makes will be invalidated upon review.

The case that illustrates the point is the case of David Onyango Oloo v. The Attorney General, where the Commissioner of Prisons purported to deprive Onyango Oloo his sentence remission to which he was entitled under the Prisons Act without giving him an opportunity to be heard. Quashing the decision, Justice Nyarangi stated; “… There is a presumption in the interpretation of statutes that the rules of natural justice will apply. In this case the rule in question was the one concerning the right to be heard.”
1. Adjournment
Natural Justice requires a party be granted adjournment of a hearing a case if the exigencies require (it does not matter how guilty a person is, if exigencies arise, they must be accorded an adjournment by the administrative body and if they are denied an adjournment and a decision is given, the court will quash such a decision)

NOTE; Wrongful refusal to adjourn amounts to a denial of a fair hearing and will result in the quashing of a decision. This was stated in the case of Priddle v. Fisher & Sons. A heating engineer was denied an adjournment in a case he was supposed to be represented by a trade union representative. The decision of the court arising out of the proceedings in the absence of the applicant was held to be unfair.
1. Legal representation
This does not apply in every case but in suitable cases and suitable circumstances, the right to representation by a lawyer or some other person may be part of natural justice. For example in the Liquor Licensing Act, it allows for a person applying for a licence to be represented by an authorised agent in which case he becomes the legal representative before the court. Where legal representation is necessary, authorised and is requested by a party the right to legal representation must be granted. If denied, a decision may be quashed on grounds of failure to observe the principles of natural justice.