SOERING v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT 10 take account of fresh evidence which was not before the magistrate (Schtraks v. Government of Israel, loc. cit.). 35. In addition, it is open to the prisoner to challenge both the decision of the Secretary of State rejecting his petition and the decision to sign the warrant in judicial review proceedings. In such proceedings the court may review the exercise of the Secretary of State’s discretion on the basis that it is tainted with illegality, irrationality or procedural impropriety (Council of Civil Service Unions and Others v. Minister for the Civil Service [1984] 3 All England Law Reports 935). Irrationality is determined on the basis of the administrative-law principles set out in Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd v. Wednesbury Corporation [1948] 1 King’s Bench Reports 223 (the so-called "Wednesbury principles" of reasonableness). The test in an extradition case would be that no reasonable Secretary of State could have made an order for return in the circumstances. As the judgment of Lord Justice Lloyd in the Divisional Court in the present case shows (see paragraph 22 above), the reliance placed by the Secretary of State on any assurance given by the requesting State may be tested to determine whether such reliance is within the confines of "reasonableness". According to the United Kingdom Government, on the same principle a court would have jurisdiction to quash a challenged decision to send a fugitive to a country where it was established that there was a serious risk of inhuman or degrading treatment, on the ground that in all the circumstances of the case the decision was one which no reasonable Secretary of State could take. In R v. Home Secretary, ex parte Bugdaycay [1987] 1 All England Law Reports 940 at 952, a House of Lords case concerning a refusal to grant asylum, Lord Bridge, while acknowledging the limitations of the Wednesbury principles, explained that the courts will apply them extremely strictly against the Secretary of State in a case in which the life of the applicant is at risk: "Within those limitations the court must, I think, be entitled to subject an administrative decision to the most rigorous examination, to ensure that it is in no way flawed, according to the gravity of the issue which the decision determines. The most fundamental of all human rights is the individual’s right to life and, when an administrative decision under challenge is said to be one which may put the applicant’s life at risk, the basis of the decision must surely call for the most anxious scrutiny." Lord Templeman added (at page 956): "In my opinion where the result of a flawed decision may imperil life or liberty a special responsibility lies on the court in the examination of the decision-making process." However, the courts will not review any decision of the Secretary of State by reason of the fact only that he failed to consider whether or not