Cooper v Wandsworth Board of Works (1863)

Administrative Law · Exceptions to Natural Justice & Effect of Non-Compliance

Facts.

A Board demolished Cooper’s partly built house for failure to give notice of building — but demolished it without giving Cooper any notice or hearing.

Issue.

Could the Board exercise its demolition power without first hearing the owner, the statute being silent on a hearing?

Held.

No. A hearing must be implied; “even God did not pass sentence upon Adam before he was called upon to make his defence.” The demolition was unlawful.

Why it matters.

It is the historical fountainhead of audi alteram partem — authority for reading a hearing into a statute that is silent, and the origin of the “condemned unheard” principle Indian courts constantly invoke.

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