MAJLIS BANDARAYA PETALING JAYA

On the court record

Illustrates how the courts review a local authority's planning and enforcement decisions for legality and fairness, apply the leave and standing requirements of judicial review, and mediate between the Council, the State appellate body and those affected by its decisions.

The Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (the Petaling Jaya City Council) appears in this corpus as a local authority, most often as a respondent in judicial review of its planning and regulatory decisions, and occasionally as an applicant challenging a decision of a higher body. The characteristic proceeding is an application under Order 53 of the Rules of Court 2012 to quash a decision of the Council — for example the grant of a development or planning approval said to affect a neighbour or resident, or a decision to demolish stalls or structures — where the applicant contends that the Council acted outside its powers or in breach of procedural fairness. The corpus reflects the leave stage of judicial review, at which the court decides whether an arguable case has been shown and whether the applicant has standing, sometimes on an objection by the Attorney General that the application is not properly brought. The Council also appears as an applicant, including a judicial review to quash a decision of the Selangor State Appeal Board (Lembaga Rayuan Negeri Selangor) that had reversed a decision of the Council, and it is drawn into interlocutory disputes such as an ex parte injunction connected with a development. Because the Council exercises statutory planning, licensing and enforcement powers over its area, the litigation tests the boundary between the legitimate exercise of those powers and the rights of residents, developers and traders affected by them. The matters in this corpus are decided in the High Court. Collectively the decisions in which the Petaling Jaya City Council is a party illustrate how the courts review a local authority's planning and enforcement decisions for legality and fairness, apply the leave and standing requirements of judicial review, and mediate between the Council, the State appellate body and those affected by its decisions.