AN -v- London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (anonymity order)

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Claim number: AC-2025-LON-000776

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

16 April 2025

Before:

Judge Plimmer

Between:

The King on the application of
AN

-v-

London Borough of Barking and Dagenham

Order

Notification of the Judge’s Decision (CPR 54.11, 54.12)

Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant and the Defendant

ORDER BY JUDGE PLIMMER (sitting as a High Court Judge)

  1. Application to amend: The Claimant’s application to amend the statement of facts and grounds to refer to / challenge the March plan is granted.
  2. Permission to apply for judicial review: Permission is granted on all grounds.
  3. Expedition: the particular needs of the Claimant’s child are such that a modest degree of expedition is justified and the case management directions have been abridged accordingly.
  4. Anonymity:
    (a) Pursuant to CPR 39.2(4) and/or the Court’s inherent jurisdiction and/or 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 AN.
    (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 a redacted copy of any statement of case 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;
    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.
  5. Case Management Directions:
    (a) The Defendant must, within 21 days of the date of service of this Order, file and serve (i) Detailed Grounds for contesting the claim or supporting it on additional grounds and (ii) any written evidence to be relied on.
    (b) The Defendant may comply with sub-paragraph (a)(i) above by filing and serving a document which states that its Summary Grounds are to stand as the Detailed Grounds required by CPR 54.14.
    (c) Any application by the Claimant to serve evidence in reply must be filed and served, together with a copy of that evidence, within 14 days of the date on which the Defendant serves evidence pursuant to (a) above.
    (d) The parties must agree the contents of the hearing bundle. An electronic version of the bundle must be prepared and lodged, in accordance with the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide Chapter 21 and the Guidance on the Administrative Court website, not less than 10 days before the date of the
    substantive hearing. The parties must, if requested by the Court, lodge 2 hardcopy versions of the hearing bundle.
    (e) The Claimant must file and serve a Skeleton Argument (maximum 25 pages), complying with CPR 54 PD para. 15 and the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide paras 20.1 to 20.3, not less than 7 days before the date of the substantive hearing.
    (f) The Defendant must file and serve a Skeleton Argument (maximum 25 pages), complying with CPR 54 PD para. 15 and the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide paras 20.1 to 20.3, not less than 3 days before the date of the substantive hearing.
    (g) The parties must agree the contents of a bundle containing the authorities to be referred to at the hearing. An electronic version of the bundle must be prepared in accordance with the Guidance on the Administrative Court website. The parties must, 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, must be lodged with the Court not less than 4 days before the date of the substantive hearing.
    (h) The time estimate for the substantive hearing is 1 day. This shall be listed within 49 days from the date of this Order. If either party considers that this time estimate should be varied, they must inform the court as soon as possible.

Reasons

  1. Amendment: The Claimant seeks permission to amend her statement of facts and grounds (‘SFG’) to take into account recent factual developments ie ‘March plan’. The amended SFG is materially the same as the one originally filed and makes the same submissions with additional references to ‘the March Plan’. The amendment is relatively minor and provides completeness. In all the circumstances it is appropriate to permit the amendment and grant the application.
  2. Permission: It is arguable that the Defendant has been and continues to act unlawfully for the reasons outlined in the SFG, particularly in the light of the impact upon the Claimant’s daughter who is autistic with an Educational Health and Care Plan in place. The child’s needs and circumstances justify the relatively modest degree of expedition granted.
  3. Anonymity: The strength of application turns on the impact upon the Claimant’s minor child. There are accordingly compelling reasons for the limited derogations from the principle of open justice in paragraph 1.