AXT -v- Secretary of State for the Home Department (anonymity order)

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Case number: AC-2025-LON-002257

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

In the matter of an application for judicial review

19 December 2025

Before:

Alan Bates,
sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court

Between:

The King
on the application of
AXT

-v-

Secretary of State for the Home Department

Order

Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant and the Acknowledgement of Service filed by the Defendant

ORDER BY ALAN BATES,
SITTING AS A DEPUTY JUDGE OF THE HIGH COURT

  1. Anonymity and reporting restrictions:

(a) Pursuant to CPR 39.2(4), the Court’s inherent jurisdiction, and/or section 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;

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

(b) Pursuant to section 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) 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

(ii) 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 the order set out in this paragraph must make an application, served on each party.

REASONS

The Claimant claims to be a victim of modern slavery and/or trafficking. He is the subject of a positive Conclusive Grounds decision finding that he was trafficked from India to Belgium and France as a child. I am satisfied that anonymisation of the Claimant and protection of his identify from being publicly revealed are proportionate interferences with the open justice principle, in order to protect the Claimant from potential harm from people who may have been involved in enslaving or trafficking him in the past. Those measures will not prevent reporting of this case, provided that the Claimant’s identity is protected. (I note that Parliament has signalled an intention that victims of modern slavery, like victims of sexual offences, should be entitled to lifelong anonymity: see Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992, ss. 1 and 2 (as amended by the Modern Slavery Act 2015). My order will ensure that such intention is not undermined by reporting of these judicial review proceedings.)

Signed: DHCJ Alan Bates
Date: 19 December 2025