Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

authorities definition

What does authorities mean? Authorities are the legal sources a lawyer relies on to justify a proposition of law in submissions, skeleton arguments and judgments. The term is descriptive and widely used across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, rather than being defined by statute. Authorities typically include: primary legislation and subordinate legislation; binding appellate case law within the relevant jurisdiction; and, as persuasive material, decisions from other UK or foreign courts, tribunal rulings, EU and ECHR jurisprudence where applicable, and reputable academic commentary. In Scotland, the writings of the institutional writers (e.g. Stair, Erskine, Bell) may carry particular weight. Textbooks and...

Public authority liability: status and amenability to judicial review, negligence duties (acts vs omissions), public/private acts, and Human Rights Act 1998 claims

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Practice notes

What is a Public authority?

A public authority is a form of the state carrying out a public role. The line between a private entity and a public authority has grown more significant since the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998), because HRA 1998 bars public authorities from behaving in a way or manner that conflicts in any respect with any Convention right under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The approach to deciding whether an entity is a public authority can be broader in practice under HRA 1998 than it is within judicial review. Institutions that are plainly and inherently public by character are very likely to count as public authorities. Illustrations include, for example:

central government
police and emergency services
local authorities
local education authorities
housing authorities
the Ministry of Defence
NHS bodies

There are also various other organisations performing certain public tasks that may meet the definition. Where such organisations are treated as public authorities, this will usually be only in relation to their performance of public functions.

Determining whether an organisation is a public authority

There is no single, definitive test for deciding whether an organisation is a public authority...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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