6. Fetter of discretion
When a public body is conferred discretion to make a certain decision, that public body is the only authority who can exercise such discretion (save for lawful and proper delegation of authority). The duty to exercise such discretion is inalienable. As such, a decision can be quashed if such discretion was not properly exercised due to rigid reliance on a blanket policy: R v Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex parte Venables [1998] AC 407.
The objection to such kind of decisions is that it would automatically determine the outcome of a case irrespective of its specific facts and circumstances, thereby rendering the decision-maker’s mind closed, and thus not exercising his discretion.
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