Never being heard at all is the exception that unlocks judicial review

The ODPC proceeded to determination on the mistaken premise that the applicant had never responded to a complaint, when in fact a response had been emailed weeks earlier. The regulator argued the applicant should have appealed under Section 64 instead of seeking judicial review. The Court drew a precise line: where a party has been heard but disputes the outcome, the statutory appeal is the route; where a party alleges it was never heard at all, that is an exceptional circumstance under Section 9(4) of the Fair Administrative Action Act that justifies bypassing the appeal mechanism entirely.