“Defendants can challenge bye-law validity as defence in criminal proceedings.”
Boddington was prosecuted for smoking in a railway carriage contrary to British Rail bye-laws. He argued the bye-laws were ultra vires and invalid, but was told he should have brought judicial review proceedings instead.
Whether a defendant in criminal proceedings can challenge the validity of bye-laws as a defence, or whether they must bring separate judicial review proceedings.
The House of Lords held that Boddington could challenge the validity of the bye-laws as a defence in the criminal proceedings.
This case established important principles about collateral challenge to subordinate legislation and the relationship between judicial review and criminal law. It enhanced access to justice by removing procedural barriers to challenging invalid laws.
You're reading the free summary of Boddington v British Transport Police. Create a free account to unlock the full reasoning, the cited authorities and the verbatim judgment — plus structured briefs for 412,000+ UK judgments.
No card required. Free forever.
OSCOLA Citation
Boddington v British Transport Police [1999] 2 AC 143 (HL)
Multiple official and mirror sources — pick whichever loads cleanly on your network.
Falls back to Google for old citations BAILII catalogues separately
Common Room
0 comments · About the Common Room →
No comments yet — start the discussion.
Voted-best comments help future students and feed Caselaw's AI study tools.