APP -v- Birmingham City Council (anonymity order)
Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order
In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division
Administrative Court
23 January 2025
Before:
HHJ Emma Kelly
Between:
The King on the application of
APP
-v-
Birmingham City Council
Order
On an application by the Claimant for urgent interim relief
Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant
ORDER BY HER HONOUR JUDGE EMMA KELLY
1. 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 and those of his six children named in para. 4 of the Detailed Statement of Facts and Grounds (“the Children”) are 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 APP and the Children in descending order of age as APPA, APPB, APPC, APPD, APPE and APPF.
(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.
(e) A copy of this order shall be published on the website of the Judiciary of England and Wales pursuant to CPR 39.2(5).
2. Interim relief:
(a) By 4pm on 24 January 2025 the Defendant must file and serve any response to the Claimant’s application for urgent interim relief. Such a response may be in email form and does not need to be a witness statement.
(b) The claim shall be referred back to HHJ Emma Kelly forthwith on the earlier of 4pm on 24 January 2025 or receipt of a response from the Defendant.
3. Costs reserved.
REASONS
1. Anonymity: The claim relies on personal medical information of some of the Children. The Claimant and the Children have a reasonable expectation of privacy of such personal details. Unless the anonymity of the Claimant and all of the Children is preserved, there is a risk the Children whose personal medical information is relied on would be identified through other family members. There are accordingly compelling reasons for the limited derogations from the principle of open justice in paragraph 1.
2. Interim relief: The Court has no information as to the Defendant’s position on the application for interim relief and requires input from the Defendant. It is noted that the application for interim relief was served on the Defendant on 17 January 2025 thus the Defendant has already had 3 clear working days to consider the same. There is a degree of urgency as the Claimant’s evidence suggests the Claimant and his family have been waiting for an offer of suitable accommodation for months. The Court will afford the Defendant a very limited period of time to provide its input into the application.