Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service Prerogative. Despite an extensive publicity campaign by trade unions, the government refused to reverse its decision, instead offering affected employees the choice between £1,000 and membership of a staff association or dismissal. Those employees dismissed could not rely on an industrial tribunal, as they were not covered by the relevant employment legislation. As such, the Council of Civil Service Unions decided judicial review was the only available route. The decision to ban workers at GCHQ from trade union membership had been taken following the meeting of a select group of ministers and the prime minister rather than the full Cabinet.
Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service Rights Act, there is a significant difference in that Orders in Council are an executive product, and lack the "representative character" that comes with Parliamentary authority and approval. As such, the Lords saw "no reason why prerogative legislation should not be subject to review on ordinary principles of legality, rationality and procedural impropriety in the same way as any other executive action". Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service [1984] UKHL 9, or the "GCHQ case", is a UK constitutional law and UK labour law