ACH and ACK -v- Ministry of Defence (anonymity order)

Administrative CourtCivilHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Case number: AC-2024-LON-003759

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

15 November 2024

Before:

Mrs Justice Thornton DBE

Between:

ACH
and
ACK

-v-

Ministry of Defence

Anonymity order

On an application for interim relief

UPON considering the documents filed by the Claimant

IT IS ORDERED THAT:

  1. The Claimants shall have anonymity until further order. No report or publication of these proceedings shall directly or indirectly identify the Claimants. The Claimants shall be identified as “ACH” and “ACK”.

  2. No non-party may obtain a copy of the statement of case until further order.

  3. The application for interim relief is listed for hearing on Thursday 21 November 2024, before a High Court judge, with a time estimate of 1 hour.

  4. The Defendant to file and serve written submissions in response to the application by 4.30pm on Tuesday 19 November 2024.

  5. The Claimants to file any written submissions in reply, if so advised, by 4.30pm on Wednesday, 20 November.

  6. Liberty to apply on notice to the Court and the parties.

REASONS

  1. The Claimants are Afghan nationals and are presently living in Afghanistan. ACH has two young daughters. ACK is her mother. The Claimant applied for relocation to the United Kingdom on 1 February 2022 pursuant to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (“ARAP”). ACH’s husband was a former officer in the Afghan National police and for a period of time was directly employed, and paid, by the British Embassy in Kabul. He was killed in February 2021 whilst travelling to his office.

  2. The delay in deciding ACH’s application for relocation lead to successful judicial review proceedings following which the application was granted on 19 September 2024. An additional family members application for ACK was granted on 12 November 2024. The Claimants now challenge the delay in relocating the family to safety by way of a further judicial review claim.

  3. I consider that the application for interim relief should be considered on an expedited basis. There is real urgency to the matter. The Claimants and the two young girls are living with a host family in hiding. The Taliban are conducting house to house searches in Kabul. The host family are fearful of the consequences if they are found to be hiding the family, who have been asked to leave. It is said that after 21 November the family will have nowhere to go and no male chaperone, which will make them conspicuous. They are destitute. Whilst the Claimants seek a time estimate of 0.5 day for the interim hearing, the Court is only able to list the application for 1 hour if the hearing is to take place next week.

  4. The Claimants request anonymity. There is a substantial basis for this given the background to the claim and the matters that explain the urgency of the situation (paragraph 3). These factors clearly outweigh any public interest in knowing the Claimants’ identities,

  5. I also direct that the Claimants’ statement of case not be obtainable by non- parties until further order. I consider that the Claimants require this protection whilst the application is being considered, and this outweighs the public interest in knowing the details of the case. Editing the statement of case (which might afford the Claimants necessary protection) will require considerable time and resource, and should not be required to be done at pace. The Judge considering the application for interim relief can determine whether that restriction should be maintained or if a different order such as an edited statement of case (or no order) should be made. In doing so, the judge may benefit from representations from the Defendants if they have something to say on the matter.

  6. If members of the press consider that the order for anonymity or the order prohibiting access to the statement of case should be revisited, they have liberty to apply to vary the terms.

Signed: Mrs Justice Thornton DBE
Dated: 15/11/24