LANDMARK CASE

Associated Provincial Picture Houses v. Wednesbury Corporation

[1948] 1 KB 223 · Court of Appeal (UK) · Administrative law

At a glance

Citation: [1948] 1 KB 223
Court: Court of Appeal (UK)
Area of law: Administrative law
In one line: Only if it is so unreasonable that no reasonable authority could have made it. The condition was upheld.

1 Facts

A cinema licence was granted on condition that children under 15 not be admitted on Sundays.

2 Issue

When can courts interfere with an administrative decision?

3 What the court decided

Only if it is so unreasonable that no reasonable authority could have made it. The condition was upheld.

4 Why it matters

Gave the 'Wednesbury unreasonableness' test used in India.

5 Think about it

How is proportionality different from Wednesbury?

6 Analyse it yourself

Read the full judgment from an official source or a law database, then brief it in seven steps: facts, issues, arguments, decision, ratio, obiter and significance. Always check the citation before you rely on it.

7 More cases on Administrative law

Centre for Public Interest Litigation v. Union of India (2012) 3 SCC 1
Manohar Lal Sharma v. Principal Secretary (Coal Blocks) (2014) 9 SCC 516
Natural Resources Allocation, In re (Special Reference No. 1 of 2012) (2012) 10 SCC 1
Ram Jethmalani v. Union of India (2011) 8 SCC 1
Ramana Dayaram Shetty v. International Airport Authority of India (1979) 3 SCC 489
State of Tamil Nadu v. K. Balu (2017) 2 SCC 281

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