Editing GCHQ (section)

==Constitutional legal case==
A controversial GCHQ case determined the scope of judicial review of prerogative powers (the Crown's residual powers under common law). This was ''[[Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service]]'' [1985] AC 374 (often known simply as the "GCHQ case"). In this case, a prerogative Order in Council had been used by the prime minister (who is the [[Minister for the Civil Service]]) to ban trade union activities by civil servants working at GCHQ. This order was issued without consultation. The House of Lords had to decide whether this was reviewable by [[judicial review]]. It was held that executive action is not immune from judicial review simply because it uses powers derived from common law rather than statute (thus the prerogative is reviewable).<ref>{{cite BAILII |litigants=Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service |link=Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service |court=UKHL |division= |year=1984 |num=9 |parallelcite=[1985] ICR 14, [1985] IRLR 28, [1984] 3 WLR 1174, [1984] 3 All ER 935, [1985] AC 374 |date=22 November 1984 |courtname=auto}}</ref>