AIN -v- The London Borough of Tower Hamlets (anonymity order)

Administrative CourtCivilHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Case number: AC-2024-LON-004236

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

In the matter of an application for judicial review

2 January 2024

Before:

The Hon. Mr Justice Mould

Between:

The King
on the application of
AIN

-v-

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets

Order

On an application by the Claimant for urgent consideration, interim relief and directions

Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant

ORDER by the Hon. Mr Justice Mould:

  1. Anonymity:

(a) Under the Court’s inherent jurisdiction and pursuant to s. 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998:

(i) the Claimant’s name is to be withheld from the public and must not be
disclosed in any proceedings in public; and

(ii) the Claimant is to be referred to orally and in writing as AIN.

(b) Pursuant to s. 11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, there must be no publication of the identity of the Claimant or of any matter likely to lead to the identification of the Claimant in any report of, or otherwise in connection with, these proceedings.

(c) Pursuant to CPR 5.4C(4):

(i) the parties must within 7 days file and serve a redacted copy of any statement of case already filed, omitting the name, address and any other information likely to lead to the identification of the Claimant;

(ii) if any statement of case subsequently filed includes information likely to lead to the identification of the Claimant, a redacted copy omitting that information must be filed at the same time and must then be served with the unredacted version;

(iii) unless the Court grants permission under CPR 5.4C(6), no non-party many obtain a copy of any unredacted statement of case.

(d) Any person wishing to vary or discharge this Order must make an application, served on each party.

  1. Timetable for submissions and paper decision on interim relief:

(a) The Defendant must file and serve any response to the application for interim relief by 4pm on Friday 10 January 2025.

(b) The Claimant may file and serve a reply to that response by 4pm on Friday 17 January 2025.

(c) The papers are to be referred to a judge or deputy judge for a decision whether to grant interim relief within 7 days thereafter.

REASONS

Anonymity: On the evidence before the court, the Claimant is a vulnerable person who suffers from serious mental and physical ill health. She is a refugee with a history of rape and torture in her country of origin. She has been diagnosed as suffering from complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and moderately severe depression. There are accordingly compelling reasons for the limited derogations from the principle of open justice in paragraph 1.

Timetable for submissions and paper decision on interim relief: It appears from the documents before the court that the Defendant accepted as long ago as 21 February 2023 that in order to fulfil their housing duty to the Claimant, it was necessary that she be provided with either ground floor accommodation or upper floor accommodation which is readily accessible via a working lift.
The chain of subsequent correspondence indicates that although some effort has been made during the intervening period to find suitable accommodation to meet the Claimant’s needs, no firm offer has yet been made. The need to make suitable accommodation available to the Claimant has clearly become pressing. I am, nevertheless, not persuaded that it would be appropriate to make a mandatory order without having offered the Defendant as housing authority the opportunity to respond to the Claimant’s application for interim relief, to explain how they propose to resolve matters as a matter of real urgency. It is, moreover, the court’s expectation that the short timetable for submissions will enable the Defendant to make an offer of suitable accommodation to the Claimant without the need for further intervention by this court.
It is not necessary at this stage to give specific directions in relation to the underlying claim for judicial review. It is to be hoped that the Defendant will take the necessary steps urgently to provide suitable accommodation to the Claimant and thereby resolve the main issue raised by the claim.

Signed: Mr Justice Mould
Dated: 2nd January 2025