AB -v- Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court (anonymity order)

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Claim number: CO/1437/2023

In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division
Administrative Court

17 May 2023

Before:

The Honourable Mr Justice Lavender

Between:

The King on the application of
AB (a child, acting by his Litigation Friend, CD)

-v-

Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court

and

Director of Public Prosecutions
(Interested party)

Order

Notification of the Judge’s decision on the application for permission to apply for judicial review (CPR 54.11, 54.12)
Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant and the Acknowledgement of Service filed by the Interested Party
ORDER by the Honourable Mr Justice Lavender

  1. The Director of Public Prosecutions is substituted as the Interested Party for the Crown Prosecution Service.
  2. The application for permission to apply for judicial review is adjourned to be listed before a Divisional Court as a “rolled-up hearing”, on notice to the Defendant and Interested Party, as soon as possible after 5 June 2023. If permission to apply for judicial review is granted at that hearing, the Court will proceed immediately to determine the substantive claim.
  3. The application is to be listed for 1 day; the parties to provide a written estimate within 7 days of service of this order if they disagree with that estimate.

Observations

  1. The Director of Public Prosecutions is the appropriate Interested Party.
  2. He contends that this application should not be made until after the conclusion of the Claimant’s trial. It is arguable that the application is suitable to be heard now, not least because the Claimant says that he has a right not to be prosecuted, but it is appropriate for the Divisional Court to consider the various authorities relating to that question and, perhaps, to give guidance for similar cases.
  3. If it is appropriate for the application to be heard now, at least some of the grounds for judicial review may be arguable. For instance, it may be arguable that the assessment whether it was in the public interest to prosecute the Claimant was flawed by reason of the Crown Prosecution Service taking into account as a consideration the
    prospect that the Claimant’s prosecution may deter his potential abusers, i.e. that the prosecution of a victim of trafficking may have a deterrent effect on his traffickers.

Case Management Directions

  1. The Claimant must, within 7 days of the date of service of this Order, file an undertaking to pay the continuation fee (see below) if permission to apply for Judicial Review is granted
  2. The Defendant and any other person served with the Claim Form who wishes to contest the claim or support it on additional grounds shall, within 14 days of the date of service of this Order, file and serve (a) Detailed Grounds for contesting the claim or supporting it on additional grounds, and (b) any written evidence that is to be relied on. For the avoidance of doubt, a party who has filed and served Summary Grounds pursuant to CPR 54.8 may comply with (a) above by filing and serving a document which states that those Summary Grounds shall stand as the Detailed Grounds required by CPR 54.14.
  3. Any application by the Claimant to serve evidence in reply shall be filed and served within 7 days of the date on which the Defendant serves evidence pursuant to 2(b) above.
  4. The parties shall agree the contents of the hearing bundle and must file it with the Court not less than one week before the date of the hearing of the judicial review. An electronic version of the bundle shall be prepared and lodged in accordance with the Guidance on the Administrative Court website. The parties shall, if requested by the Court, lodge 2 hard-copy versions of the hearing bundle.
  5. The Claimant must file and serve a Skeleton Argument not less than 4 days before the date of the hearing of the judicial review.
  6. The Defendant and any Interested Party must file and serve a Skeleton Argument not less than 2 days before the date of the hearing of the judicial review.
  7. The parties shall agree the contents of a bundle containing the authorities to be referred to at the hearing. An electronic version of the bundle shall be prepared in accordance with the Guidance on the Administrative Court website. The parties shall if requested by the Court, prepare a hard-copy version of the authorities bundle. The
    electronic version of the bundle and if requested, the hard copy version of the bundle, shall be lodged with the Court not less than 2 days before the date of the hearing of the judicial review.
  8. CPR 2.11 shall not apply to these proceedings.