AH -v- Medway Council (anonymity order)
Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order
Claim number: AC-2024-LON-001391
In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division
Administrative Court
7 June 2024
Before:
Deputy High Court Judge Clare Padley
Between:
The King on the application of
AH (by his Litigation Friend Joshua Singer)
-v-
Medway Council
Order
Notification of the Judge’s decision on the application for permission to apply for judicial review (CPR 54.11, 54.12) and on the Claimant’s applications for anonymity and interim relief and permission for further witness evidence
Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant and the Acknowledgement of service and summary grounds of defence filed by the Defendant
ORDER by Deputy High Court Judge Clare Padley
1. Pursuant to CPR rule 39.2 and/or the Court’s inherent jurisdiction, the Claimant is granted anonymity and the matter is to be known as R (AH) v Medway Council. There shall be no publication of the name and address of the Claimant or of the witnesses referred to in his evidence in respect of whom anonymity has been sought, nor any other particulars likely to lead to their identification., In the proceedings, the Claimant shall be anonymised and referred to as ‘AH’. The aforementioned witnesses shall be anonymised and referred to as ‘MAM’ and ‘SRS’.
2. The Claimant is granted permission to rely on the second witness statement dated 23 May 2024.
3. The application for permission to apply for judicial review is granted.
4. The application for interim relief is to be listed for an oral hearing with a time estimate of 2 hours on the first available date after 17 June 2023. Directions for this hearing are set out below.
5. Thereafter, the case is to be transferred to the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) under s31A(3) of the Senior Courts Act 1981.
6. The parties are to provide a written estimate within 3 working days of service of this Order if they disagree with the estimate at 4 above.
Observations
1. I note that a certificate of suitability has been signed by Joshua Singer consenting to act as the Claimant’s litigation friend. Mr Singer is a children’s advisor within the Refugee Council’s Age Dispute Project.
2. The Claimant is seeking to challenge the Defendant’s decision of 25 January 2024 to treat him not as a child aged 17 as he claims to be, but as an adult with a purported date of birth of 17 March 2005 and the age assessment process underpinning that decision.
3. An order for anonymity is appropriate in this case in light of the Claimant’s status as a putative child and an asylum seeker and the similar status of the other two young asylum seekers whose names are included in his witness evidence.
4. The Claimant seeks interim relief in the form of a mandatory order that the Defendant must treat the Claimant as a child of his claimed age under section 20 of the Children Act 1989 until conclusion of these proceedings or further order.
5. The application for such a mandatory order would be best determined at a hearing at which the court can hear up to date submissions from both sides about the Claimant’s current circumstances, and full arguments about the strength of his case and the balance of convenience. Suitable directions are made accordingly.
Directions for interim relief hearing
1. The parties shall agree the contents of the interim relief hearing bundle and must file it with the Court not less than 5 days before the date of the interim relief hearing. An electronic version of the bundle shall be prepared and lodged in accordance with the Guidance on the Administrative Court website.
2. The parties must file and serve Skeleton Arguments not less than 3 days before the date of the interim relief hearing.
3. 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 [3] days before the date of the interim relief hearing.