ABC -v- Countrystyle Recycling LTD (anonymity order)

Queen's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Claim No: QB-2019-003950

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION

Date: 07/03/2022

BEFORE
Mr Michael Ford QC
sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court

 Between:
ABC (A Protected Party proceeding by his Litigation Friend, XYZ)
-v-
COUNTRYSTYLE RECYCLING LTD

ANONYMITY ORDER

UPON HEARING Mr Matthew Stockwell, Counsel, for the Claimant and Mr Derek O’Sullivan, one of Her Majesty’s Counsel, for the Defendant

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

AND UPON IT APPEARING that the case is likely to attract publicity and that revealing the identity of the Claimant is likely to unfairly damage the interests of the Claimant and that accordingly publication of details revealing the Claimant’s identity ought to be prohibited

AND UPON THE Press Association having been notified of this application by the Claimant’s Solicitor

AND PURSUANT to Section 11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 and to CPR Rules 5.4A TO 5.4D and CPR Rule 39.2(4)

And Upon all references in this Order to the Defendant being deemed to include both Countrystyle Group Ltd. and Countrystyle Recycling Ltd.

 IT IS ORDERED THAT:

  1. There be substituted for all purposes of this case in place of references to the Claimant by name whether orally or in writing references to the letters “ABC”; likewise the litigation friend shall be referred to as “XYZ” or such other identifiers as the parties may agree for the purposes of subsequent communications.
  2. Pursuant to CPR 39.2(4) there shall not be disclosed in any report of the proceedings the name or the address of the Claimant or the Litigation Friend, and the Claimant or the Litigation Friend, if referred to, shall only be referred to as set out in paragraph 1 herein.
  3. Provided that the parties and/or their advisers and/or the Defendant’s insurers do not publish any documents containing references to the Claimant or his Litigation Friend by name, the parties be at liberty to retain their files in this case without alteration or substitution and to retain and generate internal documentation which identifies the Claimant and the Litigation Friend for the purposes of their continuing rights and obligations under the main settlement order in this claim and paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply in those respects.
  4. So far as the Claim Form, or any Judgment or Order, or any other document to which anyone might have access pursuant to CPR Rules 5.4A-D at any time does not comply with the above, the Claimant’s solicitor has leave to file with the Court copies of such document adjusted so as to comply therewith. Such copies are to be treated for all purposes as being in substitution for the relevant originals; and the originals are then to be retained by the Court in a sealed envelope marked: “not to be opened without permission of a Judge or Master of the Queen’s Bench Division”.
  5. A non-party may not inspect or obtain a copy of any document from the Court file (other than this order – duly anonymised as directed) without the permission of a Master. Any application for such permission must be made on notice to the Claimant. The Court file is to be retained by the Court and marked “Private”.
  6. Should permission be granted by a Master to a non-party pursuant to paragraph 5 above, that non-party may not obtain any copy statement of case or other document from the Court file unless it has been edited (anonymised) in accordance with this direction.
  7. Reporting restrictions apply as to the disclosing of any information that may lead to the subsequent identification of the parties.
  8. Any non-party affected by this Order may apply on notice to set aside or to vary this Order.
  9. Nothing in this Order shall apply to communications between the Defendant’s insurer and its legal advisers or reinsurers or any communications with the Compensation Recovery Unit.