AB -v- London Borough of Waltham Forest (anonymity order)

High CourtAnonymity Order

Case Number : 083DC623

In the High Court of Justice

Sitting in private

29 January 2024

Before:
District Judge Phillips

Between:

AB

-v-

London Borough of Waltham Forest


ANONYMITY ORDER

Before District Judge Phillips sitting in private on 24 January 2024.

UPON the application of the Claimant (“the Application”) made by Notice of Application dated 12 July 2023 for an anonymity order and reading the witness statement of Sophie Nicol dated 12 July 2023

AND without a Hearing but with Notice of the Application having been served upon the Defendant

AND UPON consideration of the Claimant’s Article 8 right to respect for private and family life and the Article 10 right of freedom of expression.

AND UPON the Court considering the Notice of Application and the evidence in support and the accompanying draft order sought by it AND THAT:

  1. The Application may attract media attention and publicity.
  2. The Application is being brought by the Claimant, and relates to the alleged consequences of the Claimant’s private and sensitive personal information having been disclosed and alleged harm caused thereby.
  3. Publicity revealing the identity or address/location of any Claimant could unfairly damage the interest of the Claimant and give rise to serious harm to the Claimant.
  4. Sitting in private is necessary to secure the proper administration of justice and including because publicity would defeat the object of the Application and of this Order and lead to the above harm.
  5. Non-disclosure of the identity of and anonymity of the Claimant’s address/location is necessary in order to protect the interests of the Claimant and to secure the proper administration of justice

    AND PURSUANT to s.11 Contempt of Court Act 1981 and Civil Procedure Rules 1998 rules 1.1, 1.2, 3.1, 3.10, 5.4 A-D and 39.2 and the inherent jurisdiction of the Court.

    AND UPON the Court being satisfied that there is no public interest in disclosure that outweighs the need for anonymity.

    AND UPON the Court having determined that it would be proportionate to order that the Claimant shall be referred to herein and for the purposes of the Application by initials as set out in the heading of this order save for the purposes of any necessary confidential communications between the parties’ legal advisors and/or the court.

    AND UPON a copy of the court’s order being published on the website of the Judiciary of England and Wales (which may be found at www.judiciary.uk). Any person who is not a party to the proceedings may apply to set aside or vary the order.

IT IS ORDERED AND DIRECTED THAT: –

  1. The identity and the address/location of the Claimant be not disclosed or published without the permission of the court (other than as required for the purposes of the carrying on of the Application and the Claim).
  2. The Claimant be entitled to prosecute the Application and the Approval Claim with there being used in place of references to the Claimant by name, and whether orally or in writing, reference to the sequence of characters, AB; and the Claimant shall be described in all statements of case and other documents to be filed or served in the Application and the Claim and in any judgment or order in the proceedings and in any report of the proceedings by the press or otherwise as “AB”.
  3. The address of the Claimant be stated in all statements of case and (subject as provided below) in all other documents to be filed or served in the Application and in the Claim as the address of the Claimant’s solicitors.
  4. That insofar as necessary, any statement of case or other document disclosing any of 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 have permission to file with the court such copies of such documents adjusted so as to comply therewith.
  5. The original of any such statement of case or other document disclosing the name or address/location of any Claimant (and in particular any Claim Form, or any statement of case, witness statement (or exhibit), 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 District Judge or Circuit Judge of the County Court”, 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 District or Circuit Judge”.
  6. 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 District or Circuit of the County Court. 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”.
  7. The reporting restrictions apply as to the disclosing of any information that may lead to the subsequent identification of any Claimant. The publication of the name or address/location of any Claimant or of any member of any Claimant’s immediate family is prohibited.
  8. The Claimant must serve a copy of this Order and of the Notice of Application upon the Defendant and otherwise comply with CPR Rule 23.9 by no later than service of the Claim Form in the Approval Application.
  9. The Defendant may apply under CPR Rule 23.10 to set aside or vary this Order within fourteen days of service of it upon them.
  10. Any non-party affected by this Order may apply on notice to all parties to have this Order set aside or varied.
  11. The Claimant has permission to apply to set aside or vary this order.
  12. 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 “AB”
  13. The Application shall be further considered at (“the Further Consideration Hearing”) the first case management conference in the Claim (and also when the Court gives directions in relation to such first case management conference) and/or earlier at a hearing for which the Claimants and the Defendant shall each have permission to apply; and the costs of the Application are reserved to the Further Consideration Hearing.