ACG -v- Secretary of State for Defence and others (anonymity order)

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Claim number: AC-2025-LON-001440

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

25 June 2025

Before:

The Honourable Mr Justice MacDonald

Between:

The King on the application of
ACG

-v-

Secretary of State for Defence

and eight others (Interested parties)

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(s) of service filed by the Defendant and/or Interested Party

ORDER by the Honourable Mr Justice MacDonald

  1. The time for the filing and serving of the Defendant’s Acknowledgment of Service is extended to 4pm on 28 May 2025.
  2. The application for permission to apply for judicial review is granted.
  3. The hearing of the claim is expedited and shall be listed for hearing in the week commencing 28 July 2025, or as soon thereafter as the court can accommodate the hearing, with a time estimate of 1 day. If the parties disagree with this time estimate they shall provide a written time estimate within 7 days of service of this order.
  4. Costs reserved.

Observations

  1. I consider that each of the grounds of judicial review is arguable with a realistic prospect of success.
  2. The hearing of the claim requires to be expedited. As observed by Lang J, the Claimant and the Interested Parties are at risk of death or serious injury at the hands of the Taliban in Afghanistan and remain in hiding, the witness and members of his family are also at risk and the Claimant is unable to obtain medical treatment for injuries previously sustained in circumstances where the hospitals are under the control of the Taliban. Within this context of threat to life, there has already been a very lengthy delay in this matter.

Case Management Directions

  1. The Defendant and any other person served with the Claim Form who wishes to contest the claim or support it on additional grounds shall, no later than 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.
  2. 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 1(b) above.
  3. The parties shall agree the contents of the hearing bundle and must file it with the Court not less than 14 days 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.
  4. The Claimant must file and serve a Skeleton Argument not less than 14 days before the date of the hearing of the judicial review.
  5. The Defendant and any Interested Party must file and serve a Skeleton Argument not less than 7 days before the date of the hearing of the judicial review.
  6. 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 7 days before the date of the hearing of the judicial review.