Before making a claim for judicial review, it is important that you follow the rules for pre-action conduct, this refers to the actions that you should take before you make your claim. The Pre-Action Protocol, which is contained in the Civil Procedure Rules, lays out a code of best practice and the steps that you should follow prior to seeking judicial review.

The pre-action protocol has 5 aims, they include:

• To understand and identify the issues you are disputing in your claim and to share information and relevant documents
• To make informed decisions about whether to proceed and how to do this
• To attempt to settle the dispute without legal proceedings or to reduce the issues you are disputing
• To keep down the cost of resolving your dispute by avoiding unnecessary expenses
• To support the efficient management of proceedings where legal action cannot be avoided

If you fail to follow the steps outlined in the pre-action protocol then this will be taken into account during the Upper Tribunal hearing that may follow. If you lose your case you may be ordered to pay additional costs for not following the pre-action protocol and if you win your case and you are awarded costs then this amount may be reduced because you have not followed pre-action protocol. There are also other sanctions that could come as a result of your failure to comply with the protocol.