In Cocks v Thanet DC, the local authority had a duty to house homeless people. The House of Lords decided that this duty could be separated into two issues. The first was a public law duty to act lawfully and apply the relevant statutory provisions correctly. Once the authority had done this, the second duty, concerning private rights, arose. The court decided that, where private rights depended upon prior public law decisions, the judicial review process should ordinarily be used. It would be an abuse of court process to allow Cocks to seek relief in respect of his claim otherwise than by an application for judicial review.