Standing in Public Interest Litigation (ALRC Report 27)

ALRC Report 27 (tabled November 1985) provides an overview of the law of standing in public interest litigation. The main areas of the report include discussions on issues of standing in civil proceedings involving both the common law and statutes and discussions on the rules governing private prosecution.

ALRC Report 27 identified that the law of standing was confused and restrictive, as different tests of standing applied depending on the type of remedy the plaintiff was seeking. The report concluded that though the rules of standing should be broadened, standing should be denied to a party if their interest in the action is deliberately meddlesome or if the interest is too minimal.

View ALRC Report 27 in HTML on the AustLII website.