Any subject could complain to the sovereign: and then the King's courts, at their discretion, would give him leave to issue such one of the prerogative writs as was appropriate to meet his case.

Likewise, if a question arose as to the rights of a subject vis-à-vis the public authority, he could come to the courts and ask for a declaration (see Dyson v. Attorney-General [1911] 1 K.B.

And this remedy has been applied right up to the present time in ordinary actions brought without leave: see, for instance, Grunwick Processing Laboratories Ltd. v. Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Services [1978] A.C. 655 and Payne v. Lord Harris of Greenwich [1981] 1 W.L.R.

Order 53 (now CPR Part 54) protected public authorities from groundless or delayed attacks by its requirements, so it would be wrong to allow evasion of its limits.

When public bodies make contracts, torts or have property disputes, they fall within ordinary ‘private’ law rules.