AXB -v- King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (anonymity order)
Claim number: KB-2023-001126
In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division
7 April 2025
Before:
Ms Clare Padley,
sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge
Between:
AXB
(a child and protected party by her mother
and Litigation Friend MXB)
-v-
King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Anonymity order
BEFORE Ms Clare Padley sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge in the High Court of Justice, Royal Courts of Justice, London WC2A on 7 April 2025
UPON HEARING Counsel for the Claimant and Counsel for the Defendant
AND UPON THE ORAL APPLICATION OF THE CLAIMANT dated 7th April 2025
AND UPON
(1) Consideration of the Article 8 rights of the Claimant and her family to respect for private and family life, and the Article 10 right to freedom of expression.
(2) It appearing that non-disclosure of the identity of the Claimant is necessary to secure the proper administration of justice and in order to protect the interests of tthe Claimant and her family and that there is no sufficient countervailing public interest in disclosure.
(3) The Defendant indicating its neutrality to the making of the order and there being no representations from the press or any other interested party.
AND PURSUANT to section 11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 and CPR rules 5.4A to 5.4D and CPR rule 39.2(4)
WHEREAS for the purposes of this order:
(1) ‘Publication’ includes any speech, writing, broadcast, or other communication in whatever form (including internet and social media), which is addressed to the public at large or any section of the public.
(2) Publication for the purpose of this Order includes any further publication (as defined in subparagraph (i) above) from the date of this Order, even if such information has derived from a previous stage or stages of these proceedings.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
- The identity of the Claimant as a party to these proceedings is confidential and shall not be disclosed or published.
- Pursuant to CPR Rule 39.2(4), there shall not be disclosed in any report of these proceedings or other publication the name or address of the Claimant, the Claimant’s Litigation Friend or other immediate family members, or any details (including other names, addresses, or a specific combination of facts) that could lead to the identification of the Claimant in these proceedings. The Claimant and the Litigation Friend shall be referred to as set out at paragraph (3) of this Order.
- There be substituted for all purposes of this case, in place of references to the Claimant by name and whether orally or in writing, references to “AXB”. Likewise, the Litigation Friend shall be referred to as “MXB”. The Claimant and the Litigation Friend shall be described in all statements of case and other documents to be filed or served in the proceedings and in any judgment or order in the proceedings and in any report of the proceedings by the press or otherwise as “AXB” and “MXB” respectively.
- The address of the Claimant be stated in all statements of case and other documents to be filed or served in the proceedings as the address of the Claimants’ solicitors.
- Any other details which, on their own or together with other information publicly available, may lead to the identification of the Claimant (including any names of other immediate family members or their addresses) shall be redacted before publication.
- So far as the Claim Form, or any judgment or order, or any other document to which anyone might have access pursuant to CPR Rule 5.4 at any time does not comply with the above, the Claimants’ solicitors have leave to file with the court copies of such document adjusted so as to comply therein. Such copies are to be treated for all purposes as being in substitution for the relevant original; and the originals are then to be retained by the court in a sealed envelope marked : “not to be opened without the permission of a Judge, Master or District Judge of the King’s Bench Division”.
- Pursuant to CPR Rules 5.4C and 5.4D:
(i) A non-party may not, without the permission of a Master, inspect or obtain any copy statement of case or document from the court file unless it has been anonymised in accordance with this Order and there has been redacted any information which might identify the Claimants.
(ii) Any application for such permission (i.e. to inspect or obtain a non- anonymised version) must be made on at least 7 days’ notice to the Claimant’s solicitors and in accordance with CPR r. 5.4C (6) and the Court will effect service. - The Court file and the electronic court file shall be clearly marked with the words “An anonymity order was made in this case on 7 April 2025 and any application by a non-party to inspect or obtain a copy document from this file must be dealt with in accordance with the terms of that Order.”
- The provisions of this Order shall not apply to:-
(i) Communications between the Court Funds Office and the anonymised party, her Deputy or Litigation Friend or solicitor in relation to the payment of money into the Court Funds Office for the benefit of the anonymised party or the investment or treatment of payment out of such money;
(ii) Communications between the Court Funds Office and/or the anonymised party, her Deputy or Litigation Friend or solicitor and any financial institution concerned as to the receipt or investment of such money;
(iii) Records kept by the Court Funds Office or the anonymised party, her Deputy or Litigation Friend or solicitor or any such financial institution in relation to such money.
(iv) Retention by all parties to the claim, their representatives, and their advisers of their unredacted files for the purposes of their continuing functions and obligations in relation to the proceedings.
(v) Communications between the Defendant(s), their insurers, or their successors in title and their legal and professional advisers, reinsurers, HM Revenue and Customs (or its successor), the Compensation Recovery Unit or any other person required by law.
(vi) Communications between the anonymised party’s representatives and advisers in managing that party’s affairs.
(vii) Communications for the purpose of obtaining medical care, advice or treatment for the anonymised party.
(viii) Communications by or on behalf of a paying party for the purposes of ascertaining whether the anonymised party is alive, so entitled to continuing periodical payments.
- Any interested party, whether or not a party to the proceedings, may apply to the Court to vary or discharge this Order, provided that any such application is made on 7 days’ notice to the Claimant’s solicitor, trustee or deputy.
- Pursuant to the ‘Practice Guidance: Publication of Privacy and Anonymity Orders’ issued by the Master of the Rolls dated 16 April 2019 a copy of this Order shall be published on the Judicial Website of the High Court of Justice (www.judiciary.uk). For that purpose, a court officer will send a copy of the order by email to the Judicial Office at judicialwebupdates@judiciary.uk.
- Costs of the Application in the case.
Dated: 7th day of April 2025