The Conservatives welcomed the initiative, but said the government must also scrap environmental regulations which they say increase the cost of major projects.
According to the government, more than half of decisions on nationally significant infrastructure projects are taken to court – causing an average delay of 18 months and adding millions to costs.
Opponents of major schemes currently have three opportunities to secure permission for a judicial review: writing to the High Court, then in an oral hearing and finally by appealing to the Court of Appeal.
Under the government’s proposals, the written stage would be scrapped – meaning campaigners would have to persuade a judge in person to order a judicial review.
In addition, any challenge deemed “totally without merit” by a High Court judge would not be eligible go over their head to the Court of Appeal.
Scotland has its own legal and judicial review system, while there are also separate rules in Northern Ireland.
The government has made economic growth its top priority, and building major transport and power projects is a key part of that.
Downing Street says wind farms in East Anglia, Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk, and improvements to the A47 in Norfolk have each been held up for two years or more by legal challenges which were eventually dismissed as hopeless or having no logical basis.
Ministers said overhauling the rules, in the upcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill, external, would send a strong signal to global firms looking to do business – that the UK was a “great place to invest”.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves signalled her intention to back expansions to Heathrow and Gatwick airports to help boost growth, despite environmental concerns shared by several senior Labour figures.
“When there are decisions around infrastructure investment, the answer can’t always be ‘no’, and with this government the answer is ‘yes’,” she told the BBC.
The Treasury is looking at whether to approve a third runway at Heathrow and a second one at Gatwick.
Sir Keir said it was time to fix “a broken system that has slowed down our progress as a nation”.
“For too long, blockers have had the upper hand in legal challenges – using our court processes to frustrate growth,” he said.