29403\26324\29395 LC\LI Public Law Assessment Brief 2025-26 | UoB

29403\26324\29395 Assessment Brief 

In response to a global outbreak of Severely Overinflated Lung (SOL), a highly contagious and potentially fatal respiratory disorder, the Health Secretary Victoria Carta Blanca has announced an immediate ‘lockdown’, using her statutory powers to issue regulations prohibiting various activities thought to pose a risk of spreading SOL. These include a ban on people meeting in groups of 6 or more, and a requirement that most businesses and public buildings remain closed. 

(a) Before last year’s general election, Carta Blanca was known as a ‘lockdown sceptic’, who had been critical of the measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic. At her local election hustings (a debate in the run-up to the election), she was asked whether there were any circumstances in which she would contemplate another lockdown. She gave the following response: 
“The brutal lockdown that we endured during the COVID pandemic has proved to be a costly mistake. I make this pledge to you: when we come to power, there will be no more lockdowns! No ifs, no buts!”

Modelo, who was present at the hustings, was passionately opposed to the lockdown measures, and this speech convinced him to vote for Carta Blanca. He feels betrayed that Carta Blanca has gone back on her word. 

(b) The regulations prohibit places of worship from opening under any circumstances. Indio, the imam at Silly Oak Mosque, wants to open the mosque for Friday prayers during Ramadan. He thinks that it is unfair that certain businesses, such as bike shops and garden centres, are allowed to remain open, while places of worship are not. He also believes that Carta Blanca has not taken into account the special importance that Ramadan has for Muslims. 

(c) The regulations include a furlough scheme, in which those people who were employed by businesses that have been forced to close receive payments of £800 per month to cover their living expenses. Jalisco is unemployed, as his former employer, Bilko Stores, shut down two weeks before the lockdown was announced. He receives £400 per month in Universal Credit. The SOL pandemic has caused the prices of essential goods to increase, and he is struggling to make ends meet. He thinks it is unfair that those on furlough are receiving twice as much as he.  

(d) The regulations require all NHS employees to undertake weekly SOL tests. Carta Blanca contracts with Blooper plc, a for-profit healthcare provider, to carry out these tests. The tests require an external examination of a person's bare chest. Tecate is a nurse at King Charles III Hospital. One day, when she goes for her weekly test, there is a group of 5 male Blooper staff in the examination room, who refuse to leave while she has her test, and who proceed to make a series of vulgar comments about her breasts when she undresses. She is traumatised by the event and feels that it was inhumane and degrading.  

Advise Modelo, Indio, Jalisco and Tecate on their prospects of bringing a claim for judicial review, and what remedies (if any) they would likely be awarded if successful.