Good Decision-Making For Public Bodies, Guide 5: Proportionality, Discretion And Policies

This is the fifth in our series of Good Decision-Making Guides for Public Bodies. These Guides highlight what is best practice in decision-making and offer simple and practical tips to reduce the risk of challenge to your decisions.

In this Guide, we look at:

• the principle of proportionality;
• the exercise of discretion in decision-making; and
• how to use policies/guidelines properly.

PROPORTIONALITY

A decision may be challenged on the ground that it is disproportionate, i.e. the effect of the decision is disproportionate to the intended objective.

Proportionality generally comes into play when looking at the 'reasonableness' of a decision. As discussed in Guide 2, a decision will be unreasonable where it plainly and unambiguously flies in the face of reason and common sense. If a decision is unreasonable, it may also be disproportionate.