AAR -v- London Borough of Croydon & another (anonymity order)
Case number: KB-2024-000318
In the Royal Courts of Justice
King’s Bench Division
26 April 2024
Before:
Master Dagnall sitting in private
Between:
AAR
-v-
(1) The London Borough of Croydon
(2) The Governing Body of St Joseph’s College
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
ORDER
UPON the Application of the Claimant (“the Application”) made by Notice of
Application dated 15 March 2024 And without a Hearing or Notice of the
Application having been served upon the Defendants
AND UPON consideration of the Claimant’s Article 8 right to respect for private
and family life and the Article 10 right to freedom of expression
AND UPON Court considering the Notice of Application and the accompanying
draft order sought by it and the evidence in support AND THAT:
- The action is one which is likely to attract significant media attention and
publicity. - The action relates to events which occurred when the Claimant was a child
and to matters which do or may attract statutory anonymity and provisions
against publication of the identity or address/location of the Claimant and
their family - Publicity revealing the identity or address/location of the Claimant could
unfairly damage the interest of the Claimant and their family and give rise
to serious harm to the Claimant or their family. - The Claimant in this matter does not wish to disclose to the Defendant
details as to their address/location owing to the nature of this case, and
that such disclosure could give rise to a risk of serious harm to the
Claimant or their family. - Non-disclosure of the identity of and anonymity of the Claimant and of their
family and of their addresses/locations is necessary in order to protect the
interests of the Claimant and to secure the proper administration of justice. - The Claimant’s identity and address/location ought to be withheld from the
public and should not be published, and that the Court should allow these
prohibitions and give consequential directions, and that such prohibitions
are necessary to secure the proper administration of justice - It is necessary to sit in private to secure the proper administration of
justice, and including because publicity would subvert the purpose of the
Application and this Order.
AND pursuant to the section 11 Contempt of Court Act 1981, section 6 of the
Human Rights Act 1998, Civil Procedure Rules 1998 rules 1.1, 1.2, 3.1, 3.3, 3.10,
5.4 A-D and 39.2 and the inherent jurisdiction of the Court.
IT IS ORDERED AND DIRECTED THAT:-
1. The identity and the address/location of the Claimant and of their family be
not disclosed or published without the permission of the court (other than
as required for the purposes of the carrying on of this action).
2. There be substituted for all purposes in this action in place of references to
the Claimant by name, and whether orally or in writing, reference to the
sequence of characters, “AAR” and the Claimant shall be described in all
statements of case and other documents to be filed or served in the
proceedings and in any judgment or order in the proceedings and in any
report of the proceedings by the press or otherwise as “AAR”.
3. The address of the Claimant be stated in all statements of case and other
documents to be filed or served in the proceedings as the address of the
Claimant’s solicitors.
4. That insofar as necessary, any statement of case or other document
disclosing the Claimant’s name or address already filed in the proceedings
be replaced by a document describing such name or address in
anonymised form as above (and in the meantime shall be kept
confidential), and the Claimant’s solicitor shall file with the court such
copies of such documents adjusted so as to comply therewith.
5. The Claimant has permission to redact from the Claim Form and any
witness statement or other document which may be served upon the
Defendant any statement of the Claimant’s address/location.
6. The original of any such statement of case or other document disclosing
the name or address/location of the Claimant (and in particular any Claim
Form, or any statement of case, judgment, Order or other document to
which anyone might have access to pursuant to Rule 5.4 A-D or otherwise
at any time) are to be retained by the Court in a sealed envelope, marked
“Not to be opened without the permission of a Judge or Master or District
Judge of the King’s Bench Division”, or, if electronically filed or scanned,
shall be placed on the court file and marked “confidential: not to be opened
without the permission of a Master or High Court Judge”.
7. Any person not a party to this action may not inspect or obtain a copy of any
document on or from the Court file (other than this order duly anonymised as
directed) and whether pursuant to Part 5.4 A-D of the Civil Procedure Rules or
otherwise, without the permission of a Judge or Master of the King’s Bench Division.
Any application for such permission must be made on notice to the Claimant and the Court will effect service. The Court file is to be retained by the Court and marked “Anonymised”.
8. The reporting restrictions apply as to the disclosing of any information that
may lead to the subsequent identification of the Claimant. The publication
of the name or address/location of the Claimant or of any member of the
Claimant’s immediate family is prohibited.
9. The Claimant must serve a copy of this Order and of the Notice of
Application upon the Defendants and otherwise comply with CPR Rule
23.9 within three days of service of this Order upon them.
10. The Defendants may apply under CPR Rule 23.10 and CPR3.3(5) to set
aside or vary this Order within seven days of service of it upon them.
11. This Order shall be further considered at the first hearing in this matter.
12. Any non-party affected by this Order may apply on notice to all parties to
have this Order set aside or varied.
13. The Claimant has permission to apply to set aside or vary this order.
14. A copy of this Order shall be published on the judicial website of the High
Court of Justice specifying that the Claimant shall be referred to as AAR
15. The costs of the Application are reserved.