Lord Rami Ranger Wins Right to Seek Judicial Review of CBE Removal
UK court ruling opens the way for challenge to 2024 decision to strip Conservative peer of his honour
- Lord Ranger wins right to seek judicial review
- 2024 CBE removal faces legal challenge
- Court says honours forfeiture can be judicially reviewed
- Ranger seeks restoration without further litigation
GG News Bureau
London, 7th Oct: Conservative peer Lord Rami Ranger has won the right to seek judicial review of the decision to strip him of his Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), in a ruling that could bring greater judicial scrutiny and transparency to the UK honours forfeiture process.
Lord Ranger, founder of a British firm that received five consecutive Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in International Trade, was awarded the CBE in 2015 for services to business and community cohesion. The Honours Forfeiture Committee revoked the honour in 2024, citing his social media posts and media interviews.
His legal team argued that the decision was disproportionate and involved errors of interpretation, reliance on incomplete or inaccurate information, consideration of irrelevant material and a breach of his Article 10 right to freedom of expression under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Court opens door to judicial scrutiny
The Honourable Mrs Justice Lieven ruled that the forfeiture process was capable of largely objective analysis and was not inherently unsuitable for judicial review.
“The revocation of an honour is a highly public decision,” the judge said, noting that such a decision can attract wide-ranging comment and have real consequences for the individual. She added that the moral and ethical judgments involved were not different from those arising in other decisions that can be subject to judicial review.
The ruling is described in the legal challenge as unprecedented in relation to the removal of a British honour. Lord Ranger’s team said the case could establish limits on executive control of the honours system and bring greater transparency to a process that has traditionally operated without the same level of external scrutiny.
Lord Ranger has called on the Cabinet Office and Honours Forfeiture Committee to reconsider the decision and recommend restoration of his CBE without further litigation.
“I was proud to have been awarded an MBE and CBE after 30 years of service to British business and the Asian community,” Ranger said. He said the decision had humiliated him and caused reputational damage.
He argued that the Cabinet Office’s own guidance states that the Forfeiture Committee is not an investigatory body and acts on the findings of official investigations. According to Ranger, the forfeiture recommendation was materially influenced by unsubstantiated or hearsay information, while evidence that could have challenged or mitigated the allegations was not adequately considered.
“I am not seeking special treatment but the opposite: the same fairness, evidence-based decision-making and due process that should apply to every citizen,” Ranger said.
Legal battle could continue
Ranger said that if the Cabinet Office chooses to continue defending the proceedings, he will pursue the claim to its conclusion and seek recovery of his legal costs.
He said he had spent a considerable amount of his own money pursuing the case and defending his reputation, while questioning whether public funds should be used to defend decisions that may have resulted from inadequate consideration of evidence.
The case is being handled by solicitor Mark Lewis of Patron Law, with Tom Hickman KC of Blackstone Chambers and Barney McCay of Landmark Chambers presenting the case.
